The Late Bronze Age Collapse and the Sea Peoples’ Migrations (4265/3500 words)

Gregory D. Mumford (University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Introduction: The study of the Late Bronze Age collapse and the Sea Peoples’ migrations is exceedingly complex and contentious regarding diverse and often contradictory evidence and interpretations. Its scope spans multiple regions in the East Mediterranean, Egypt, and Near East; it covers several centuries straddling the Late Bronze Age (1550–1200 BCE) to Iron Age (1200– 586 BCE); it entails diverse disciplines and specialists, including the archaeology, art, languages, and history of the Aegean, Western Anatolia, the Hittites, Cyprus, Syria-Palestine, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Libya, and elsewhere. The topic also incorporates a continuous influx of new data and re- assessments.5 The textual-pictorial account from Ramesses III’s memorial temple at Medinet Habu has long dominated more popular and simplified perceptions and misconceptions regarding a “single” event ca. 1200 BCE (elsewhere 1190/1177 BCE):6 This pivotal event is applied to mark the “collapse” of Late Bronze Age empires, kingdoms, city states, and their affiliated cultures throughout the East Mediterranean and Near East, followed by their integration and/or partial replacement during the early Iron Age with hybrid populations, societies, material culture, and polities. In contrast, the extant and emerging patchwork of evidence suggests that the foundation of a new geo-political and socio-cultural landscape of the biblical Philistines, Israelites, and their neighbors reflects far more complex, multi-faceted, obscure, and long-term factors. Such data also imply a continuity and merging of the Canaanites and other indigenous cultures with various Sea Peoples (e.g., Philistines), the Israelites, and other peoples and influences (Bachhuber 2013).

Sources: Although the Medinet Habu account plays a major role in clarifying the Sea Peoples’ migrations and the end of the Late Bronze Age (Murnane 1980, 11–18), other significant historical sources exist from Ramesses III’s reign (Papyrus Harris I and other texts) (Kitchen 2008). In addition, many pertinent texts pre-date and post-date this event and Ramesses III: The Amarna Letters (Moran 1992), records from Ramesses II’s reign (Kitchen 1996; 2000), Linear B texts (Deger-Jalkotzy 2008, 387–92); the Hittite Archives at Hattusha (Hoffner 2009), Ugarit’s archives (Yon 2006), the Onomasticon of Amenemope (Gardiner 1947), the Journey of Wenamon (Simpson 2003, 116–24), and many other sources (Wente 1990, 268 Meshwesh, 269 Sherden; Peden 2001, 182–237). For instance, the Amarna Letters (mid-14th century BCE) and Battle of Kadesh (year 5 of Ramesses II) attest to the presence of the Sherden/Shardana (who appear later in the Sea Peoples’ confederation) as auxiliaries in the Egyptian army (Moran 1992; Kitchen 1982, 55 fig. 18). The Sherden and other (sea) peoples (i.e., Lukka; Shekelesh; Teresh; Ekwesh) are also listed amongst the Libyan (Libu) force attacking Egypt during the reign of Merenptah (late 13th century BCE) (Kitchen 2003, 4). Furthermore, the archaeological record

5 See Sandars 1985; Ward and Joukowsky 1992; Drews 1993; Stager 1995; Oren 2000; Leahy 2001; Bachhuber and Roberts 2009; Yassur-Landau 2010; Haider, Weinstein, Cline and O’Connor, 2012; Bachhuber 2013; Cline 2014; D'Amato and Salimbeti 2015. 6 Absolute dates vary according to High, Middle, or Low chronologies and cross-cultural synchronisms (Dodson 2013; Kotsonas 2013). furnishes much supplementary, albeit often contradictory, information regarding the Sea Peoples and other events leading to the Late Bronze Age’s collapse: This includes palaeo-environmental data (e.g., climate change), settlements, burials and shipwrecks (e.g., Cape Gelidonya; Point Iria), and affiliated ecofacts (Broodbank 2013, 445–505; Walsh 2014, 170, 178, 286; Renfrew and Bahn 2016, 50).

Background: During the Late Bronze Age, New Kingdom Egypt expanded its empire over many Canaanite city-states in Syria-Palestine (Hasel 1998; Mumford 1998; Morris 2005; Spalinger 2005; Steiner and Killebrew 2014). Egypt initially dispatched periodic military campaigns and exacted annual tribute under threat of retaliatory attacks in Late Bronze Age IA (1550–1450 BCE). Thutmose III intensified Egypt’s domination of the Levant, starting with the Battle of Megiddo, and continuing with attacks and inspection tours to the north (Redford 2003); his successors consolidated this new imperial infrastructure (e.g., provincial capitals and garrisons), formalized borders (with Mitanni), and expanded interactions with neighboring kingdoms via treaties and diplomatic marriages in Late Bronze Age IB-IIA (1450–1300 BCE).7 Egypt’s relations with the Hittite Empire decline sharply in the late 14th century BCE (Amarna period), following the Hittite expansion and incursion into Mitanni, the defeat, defection, and loss of some northern Egyptian vassals (in Amurru), and an Egyptian escort’s alleged murder of a Hittite prince dispatched to Egypt (Dodson 2009, 89–94; Dodson 2014, 76–81, 135–38; Stavi 2015). Egypt fights Hatti during the next few decades, restoring order in its Canaanite Empire, and eventually establishing peace and a stable border between the Hittites and Ramesses II (Late Bronze IIB: 1300–1200 BCE). However, during this period Egypt and adjacent regions face natural disasters (climatic change; low Niles; drought; famine), unrest in Canaan, Nubia, and marginal regions (vassal rebellions; Shasu Bedu attacks; Israelite stirrings), Libyan incursions into the Nile Valley (Ramesses II fortifies the western delta), fights over the succession (Amenmesse versus Sety II), internal strife (Queen Tawosret, Siptah, and Chancellor Bay in late Dynasty 19), gold depletion in Nubia’s mines, other economic problems (inability to pay tomb workers; workmen’s strikes), and other factors affecting Egypt and its empire (Dodson 2010; Spencer 2014; Goelet 2016). The Iron Age IA-B period (1200–1000 BCE) witnesses a relatively rapid decline in Egypt and its imperial territories (Dodson 2012), which succumb to increasing Libyan incursions (in Egypt) and further population movements and settlement by indigenous refugees, Bedouin, and others: For instance, a confederation of Philistines arises in southwest Canaan, the Tjeker, Sherden, and other Sea Peoples are attested in various parts of the Levant (e.g., Phoenicia; Transjordan), while the Israelites emerge in the southern hill country (Kitchen 1995, 243–54; Killebrew 2005).

Sea Peoples’ Migrations: Medinet Habu portrays the Sea Peoples’ migrations as a “single event” dating to year 8 of Ramesses III, who claims that “The foreign countries, they made a conspiracy in their isles. Removed and scattered in battle, were the lands at one time. No land could stand up against (‘before’) their arms, beginning from Hatti (Anatolia); –Qode (Syria), Carchemish (Syria), Arzawa (southern Anatolia), and Alashiya (Cyprus), cut off (all) at once in one [place]” (Kitchen

7 See Der Manuelian 1987; O'Connor and Cline 1998; Cohen and Westbrook 2000; Bryan 2001; Cline and O’Connor 2006; Dodson 2009. 2008, 34). These foes represent three newcomers, the Peleset, Tjeker, and Weshwesh, and familiar enemies: The Sheklesh, the Denyen/Danuna (Danaoi? of the Iliad), and a captured enemy labelled “Sherden of the Sea” (Bachhuber 2013, 6098). This group is described as establishing a camp in the Hittite controlled region of Amurru (southwest Syria), devastating this region, and moving southward overland to Egypt’s imperial frontier in Djahi (i.e., northern Palestine to southern Syria), perhaps as far south as Tell Borg and the Pelusiac branch (Hoffmeier 2014). In the land battle scenes, the Sea Peoples are shown advancing in chariots and as infantry with clean shaven faces, flaring (feathered?) helmets, upper body armour, tasselled kilts, circular shields, spears, axes, and long swords; they utilize three-person crews (i.e., characteristic of Anatolian chariotry), and are identified as Peleset, Denyen, and Tjekel. The chariots are followed by identical warriors driving wagons carrying women and children, drawn by “humped” oxen typical of Zebu cattle from Syria and Anatolia (O’Connor 2000, 95–97). Ramesses III also mentions securing Egypt’s delta river mouths with warships and troops along the riverbanks (Wachsmann 2000). The Sea Peoples’ fleet is represented by five ships with bird- headed ends: Three ships contain warriors with flaring helmets (identified as Peleset, Denyen and Tjekel) and two boats have crewmembers wearing horned helmets (often equated with the Sherden) (Haider et. al., 2012, 198). Ramesses III claims victory against both the land and sea invasions, while affiliated texts mention the presence of the Sherden and Teresh. However, the Teresh and Denyen are attested a few decades before as foes during the reign of Merenptah, while the Denyen and Sherden appear even earlier as troublesome peoples in the 14th century BCE. The frequency of hostile sea raiders is attested by other LB Age accounts of piracy by the Lukka (from Lycia in southwest Anatolia) and Ekwesh (western Anatolia?), who are otherwise absent from Ramesses III’s list of enemies.

Late Bronze Age Collapse: The Aegean: The decline of the Mycenaeans and Aegean in general is complicated, remains unclear and is widely debated. It involves multiple factors (e.g., droughts; famines; earthquakes; warfare; palace system collapse), varies in nature and intensity between polities and regions, and ranges from gradual to more rapid developments (Deger-Jalkotzy 2008, 387). Earlier attacks and earthquake destructions appear at some Mycenaean palace centers toward the end of Late Helladic IIIB1 (1300–1250 BCE), including Mycenae, Tiryns, and Thebes, while the remainder of the 13th century BCE (LH IIIB2: 1250–1190 BCE) is characterized by increasing instability and decline. Mycenean palace citadels and Aegean settlements experience diverse problems, such as an apparent over exploitation of agricultural lands, soils and other resources (evident in several regions); natural disasters (earthquakes; flooding; droughts; disease); declining populations (e.g., northern Rhodes); some potential population influxes (foreign migrants); gradual impoverishment and abandonment (Grotta on Naxos); the strengthening and expansion of fortifications (Mycenae; Tiryns; Midea; Athens; Ayios Andreas on Siphnos; Phylakopi on Melos); some augmentation of coastal watch systems (e.g., Pylos); evidence for attacks and destructions (Mycenae; Tiryns; Midea; Thebes; Orchomenos; Dimini; Gla); and other circumstances (civil strife). Despite such long-term developments, many Mycenaean palace- citadels, including Linear B tablets, reveal indications for a “final disaster” with little to no warning at the end of LH IIIB2, ca. 1200/1190 BCE (e.g., a conflagration at Thebes baked some wet Linear B tablets), disrupting an otherwise functioning society, administration, economy, and lifestyle (Deger-Jalkotzy 2008, 390–92). The potential culprits vary widely: Indigenous uprisings, warring neighbors (Mycenaean Big Men, chiefdoms, and city states), and external raiders (Sea Peoples?; northern “Dorian” invasion? [refuted]; “barbarians”?). However, while individual sites and circumstances fit some of these scenarios, it seems that multiple and varying factors contributed to both the gradual and ultimate collapse of Mycenaean and Aegean societies (Tartaron 2013, 17–20).

Anatolia: Despite the popular assignment of the “Sea Peoples” as the main cause behind the ca. 1200 BCE collapse of Hatti, Arzawa, Kizuwadna, Willusa (Troy?), Alashiya, and Levantine states, the underlying mechanisms and factors are complex, unclear and debated (Bryce 2005, 327–51; Beckman, Bryce and Cline 2011, 267–82). At a superficial level, the complex socio- political landscape across Anatolia did encounter tumultuous disturbances, destructions, abandonments, and other socio-economic, political and cultural changes at the end of the Late Bronze Age. However, the Hittite Empire faced increasing pressures along its frontiers, including vassal rebellions (western and southern Anatolia), Kaska tribal raids from northern Anatolia, and the expansion of and conflict with the Assyrian Empire to the southeast. During the late 13th century BCE, the Hittites heartland struggled increasingly with issues over the succession to the throne, shortages in agricultural laborers, and a declining economy, plus widespread natural disasters such as prolonged droughts, famine, disease, and earthquakes (e.g., Hisarlik/Troy) (see Van den Hout 2013, 41–43; Bryce 2014, 86–94). Hence, the “Sea Peoples,” many of whom appear to have originated from western and southern Anatolia, including a few groups that had been active in this region for a few centuries, probably reflect only one of many components aiding in and emerging from the fall of Late Bronze Age Anatolia. By the early 12th century BCE, many polities and sites are destroyed and abandoned in Hatti and adjacent regions, including the Hittite capital at Hattusas, while other sites have squatter occupation, reduced village communities, or re-settlement nearby (Sagona and Zimansky 2009, 287, 291–92; Gates 2011, 405; Seeher 2011, 384).

Cyprus: Cyprus experienced similar site destructions (e.g., Kition; Enkomi), abandonment (e.g., Maroni-Vournes; Kalavasos-Ayios Dimitrios), and turmoil around 1200 BCE (Knapp 2013, 447–48), but yields closer links to the Sea Peoples and related activities (Tatton-Brown 1987, 15). For much of the preceding 14th through 13th centuries BCE, the Hittites may have dominated or controlled key portions of Cyprus: King Šuppiluliuma II refers to naval activity against maritime pirates in this region and a subsequent land battle on Alashiya (Cyprus). Correspondence between the Hittite vassal ruler of Ugarit and the king of Alashiya reveals hostile Sea Peoples’ fleets, coastal raids, plus other maritime marauders in this region immediately prior to ca. 1200 BCE (Karageorghis 1982, 82–84; Knapp 2013, 448). One probable Sea Peoples affiliated group, the Mycenaeans, display close links with Cyprus, especially during the 13th century BCE (Late Cypriot IIC), and later: Imported and locally copied Mycenaean (Late Helladic) IIIB pottery and motifs, bronze equipment and weaponry (Enkomi Tomb 18: greaves and a Naue II-type sword), and other items in settlements and burials; other Cypriot artifacts display typical “Sea People”-type warriors with flaring helmets, circular shields, and tasseled kilts (e.g., Enkomi stamp seal and ivory game box) (Mee 2008, 375–77; Karageorghis 1982, 84– 85, fig. 68). Cyprus also contains some imported “Trojan ware” (“Grey ware”) at Kition, Enkomi, and elsewhere, suggesting additional links with northwest Anatolian and the Aegean (Karageorghis 1982, 86). However, the archaeological and historical data enable a broad range of interpretations concerning the significance of Aegean and West Anatolian imported items, influences, and local copies. For example, indirect Aegean trade, Mycenaean traders, transitory migrants (emissaries; mercenaries; raiders), captives/booty, and potential limited Aegean settlement (i.e., colonization) within a predominant Cypriot population.

Syria-Palestine: Canaan exhibits a variety of destruction levels, decline, impoverishment, and abandonment at different sites during the 13th century BCE through the early Iron Age that can be attributed to different scenarios: Local nomadic raids (e.g., Shasu; ‘apiru); Sea Peoples’ attacks (e.g., Ugarit); Egypt’s subjugation of the Israelites and others (attested in Merenptah’s “Israel” stela); an Israelite conquest (described in later biblical texts); warring city states (especially in the northern Levant); Egyptian conflict with and suppression of rebellious vassal city states (e.g., Ashkelon); potential civil uprisings (1250 BCE destruction of Hazor’s Stratum XIII citadel); earthquakes (Deir el-‘Alla; Lachish); and more obscure socio-economic, political, and other factors (e.g., depopulation: Jericho remained unoccupied for much of the Late Bronze Age). Although northern Syria fell under Hittite control during much of Late Bronze Age IIA-B (Bryce 2014), this region experienced fluctuating conflict with Egypt, Mitanni, Assyria, and Hatti, while the stabilization of a frontier between the Egypt and Hatti (in year 21 of Ramesses II) did not end the internal strife and regional warfare during the remainder of the Late Bronze Age (Spalinger 2005). The Israelites’ emergence, their influx, and their precise role(s) in the Late Bronze Age and its collapse and transition to the Iron Age are equally obscure and debated (Hoffmeier 1997; Hoffmeier 2005). Although the Israelites are attested in Palestine during Merenptah’s reign, and perhaps earlier (Ramesses II?; Berlin Stela 21687), the Egyptian and Near Eastern textual and archaeological evidence do not corroborate later biblical accounts of an Exodus and sojourn during the Ramesside period (Frerichs and Lesko 1997). The biblical conquest account is problematic in view of some of the archaeological record from Canaan, where excavations have yielded a mixture of contradictory and corroborative data for occupation strata, settlements, and ethnic populations affiliated with the Israelite conquest account (Levy, Schneider and Propp 2015). In contrast, the archaeological evidence to-date supports a more gradual emergence of small, agrarian settlements in the hill country during the early Iron Age, which draw upon Canaanite traditions and may reflect a combination of semi-nomadic pastoralists, deurbanized Canaanites (refugees), and others (Killebrew 2005; Faust 2006).

Egypt: Aside from the failed Sea Peoples’ attacks around 1200 BCE, Egypt also experiences increasing turmoil throughout Dynasties 19–20 (1300–1069 BCE): Declining climatic conditions (droughts; low Niles; famines); vassal revolts in Canaan and Nubia (Sety I; Ramesses II; Merenptah; Ramesses III–IV); campaigns abroad (Sety I and Ramesses II’s attempts to regain Amurru and Kadesh from Hatti); Bedouin hostilities (Libyan and Meshwesh incursions from the Western Desert; Shasu raids across North Sinai; subjugation of the Seir Bedu [Negev?]); Egypt’s militarization of key frontier regions and imperial territories (fortifying the western Delta, north Sinai and Canaan); economic hardship (depletion of Nubian gold mines; growing inflation; royal tomb workmen’s strikes; increasing tomb robberies), an evident rise in corruption (theft of temple wealth; widespread involvement in Theban tomb robberies), civil strife (fights over the royal succession; the assassination of Ramesses III [slit throat]; power struggles between the king and Amun cult), and the eventual dissolution of Egypt into a southern Theban theocracy and a northern Tanite kingdom under the nominal leadership of Ramesses XI (Van Dijk 2000, 295– 313; S. Redford 2002; Vernus 2003; Redford 2006, 157–204; Bietak 2007, 438–48).

Aftermath: During the Iron Age IA-IB aftermath following the 1250–1200 BCE coastal and inland conflicts, migrations, flight, and settlement, new peoples integrate variously into the indigenous populations of the East Mediterranean: The Phrygians, kingdom of Urartu, and others emerge in Anatolia (Sagona and Zimansky 2009, 291–370); some Aegeans appear in Cyprus (Knapp 2013, 449); the neo-/Syro-Hittites forge new states in northern Syria (Sader 2014, 618); Aramaeans shift into southeast Syria (forming Aram-Damascus); the Israelites (and others) coalesce in the hill country (Gilboa 2014); Ramesses III–VI control an increasingly reduced area of Canaan during Iron Age IA (Mumford 2001a, 343; 2014, 78–81); the Peleset (Philistines) merge with Canaanites in the southern coastal plain of Philistia (Dothan and Dothan 1992); other Sea Peoples may have settled elsewhere in the Levant (e.g., Phoenicia), including the Tjeker at Dor, Sherden at Akko, and perhaps others inland (e.g., Sherden? at Tell es-Saidiyeh in the Jordan Valley) (Tubb 2000, 189; Sader 2014). Leading up to and during the Iron Age, tribal societies establish chiefdoms and subsequent kingdoms in Ammon, Moab, and Edom in Transjordan and the Negev (Bienkowski 1992; Herr and Najjar 2008; Levy, Najjar and Ben-Yosef 2014).

Iron Age Syria-Palestine: Following ca. 1200/1177 BCE, Ramesses III–VI retained political control of Canaan in Iron Age IA, while the specific relationship with the Sea People captives, migrants, other peoples remains less clear. It is uncertain whether captured warriors (e.g., Peleset) served as auxiliaries in Egyptian garrisons within Canaan versus mainly in Egypt: Some Iron Age IA, ceramic anthropoid coffins bearing striped headdresses appear in Egyptian garrison cemeteries at Deir el- Balah (which also has LB Age IIB coffins; Mumford 1998: 1604–1743), Tell Farah South, Beth Shan, and perhaps elsewhere (e.g., a body fragment occurs at Lachish). These examples have often been equated with the flaring helmets sported by some Sea People mercenaries (i.e., Peleset; Tjeker; Denyen), but this equation remains speculative and contested (Killebrew 2005, 65–67, 218; Dothan 2008, 94–95). Of note, a pottery deposit associated with the Deir el-Balah residence/fort may reflect a Philistine practice.8 Regardless of individual areas and circumstances, Iron Age I displays a major shift in the political and cultural landscape of the Levant (and beyond) (Mumford 2007), witnessing the influx and blending of the Philistines, Tjeker, Sherden, Israelites, and other peoples with the former Canaanites and other ethnic groups (‘Apiru; Shasu; Seir Bedu). This includes the consolidation of powerful Phoenician city-states to the north (e.g., Byblos; Tyre; Sidon), and new polities to the east (Aram-Damascus; Ammon; Moab; Edom).

The Sea Peoples and Canaanites in the Levant: The archaeological and historical records suggest that the Peleset and other Sea Peoples (Tjeker; Sherden) settled amongst the Canaanite population (Killebrew and Lehmann 2013), probably via Cyprus (which yields much locally made Mycenaean IIIC1b pottery). The Peleset initially concentrated at and around the towns of Ashkelon, Gaza, and Ashdod in the Plain of

8 Personal communication John S. Holladay, Jr; see Dothan and Nahmias-Lotan 2010, 111–13. Philistia during Iron Age IA: An emerging hybrid Peleset, Tjeker, Sherden, and Canaanite population replace some LB IIB Canaanite towns (e.g., Ashdod), abandon other sites (e.g., Ugarit; a hiatus occurs at Lachish in Iron IB), establish new towns (Iron IB Tell Qasile), and continue occupying other towns (e.g., Tell el-Farah South; Gezer). The Onomastacon of Amenemope confirms the presence of the Sherden, Tjeker, and Peleset in Canaan, plus the importance of Ashkelon (150 acres), Ashdod (20 acres), and Gaza (mostly unexcavated). These settlements are associated with the biblical Philistines, implying that these migrants had become quite settled by 1150–1100 BCE (Mazar 1990; Lipinski 2006, 49–57). The Journey of Wenamon (ca. 1069 BCE; Simpson 2003), mentions an Egyptian emissary stopping at a Tjeker port-town of Dor (Plain of Sharon). Wenamon also relates that the Tjeker operated many ships along the Levantine coast, while the prince of Byblos is called Tjeker-baal. The Sherden also may have occupied the northern valleys and plains of Canaan, including Tell es-Saidiyeh (Tubb 2000). Regarding Aegean links, northern Palestine and coastal Lebanon and Syria have produced locally made Mycenaean IIIC1b pottery (e.g., Acre; Beth Shan), albeit in much smaller amounts than Philistia (Mee 2008, 378, 382). The Pelest, who are best equated with the biblical Philistines, may have roots from Crete (biblical Kaphtor [Amos 9:7; Jeremiah 47:4]), but also display strong ties with the Ionian coast (Western Anatolia) and the Aegean in general: The Plain of Philistia yields Mycenaean pottery forms (Late Helladic IIIC bell-shaped bowls and kraters; stirrup jars; strainer jugs; pyxides), Mycenaean-style art and motifs (e.g., birds), figurines (e.g., seated and standing human figures), seals with glyptic art (resembling Cypro-Minoan script), architecture (megera; bench-shrines), and other components (Dothan 1982; Mazar 1990). A flaring headdress similar to the style associated with the Pelest is found on the Phaistos Disk from Late Bronze Age Crete (Gardiner 1947, 203* kftyw). The Bible has some Philistine names and designations with apparent, albeit contested, links to Luwian languages from Western Anatolia (Singer 1988, 243). Anatolian parallels to the Sherden(?) and Tjeker(?) may be reflected by the introduction of many double pithos burials at Tell es-Saidiyeh (Jordan Valley) and some double pithos and cremation burials at Azor (near Tell Qasile). During Iron Age IB, after Egypt lost control of Canaan, the characteristic Philistine material culture expands further north and inland, including the settlements of Ekron (Tel Miqne) and Gath (Tel Safi), which biblical texts (Judges 16) ascribe to a Philistine confederacy of five towns: pentapolis (Younker 2003, 372; Yasur-Landau 2010, 282–97). This autonomy enabled the Philistines to fortify their growing cities (Ashdod increased to 100 acres). Some elite housing includes Mycenaean-style buildings with a central hearth and four pillars (Miqne-Ekron); a few homes adopted a “four-room house” plan, which becomes typical for mainly Iron Age Israel and Judah (Holladay 1997, 337). Philistine temples, exemplified at Tel Qasile and partly exposed at Tel Safi (Gath), exhibit Aegean-style roots (e.g., Kition; Phylakopi): Rectilinear structural plans, two central pillars, interior benches for votive offerings, an altar, treasury, outer courtyard, and other features. They contained ritual equipment such as Aegean-derived Ashdoda female figurines, mourning female figurines (hands-to-head), pottery stands, rhyta, and kernoi, plus triton shells (possibly a horn for ritual calls), alabaster vessels, jewelry, seals, and other votives (Mazar 1980; 1985; 1990). One popular misperception concerning the Philistines introducing and having a monopoly on iron production and superior weaponry (see I Samuel 13:19–22) is misplaced: Iron items appear earlier in the Levant and are manufactured and dispersed widely during the Iron Age, including in Israelite territory (Dever 1990, 80). In addition to the continuation and dominance of typical Canaanite pottery forms in Iron Age IB Philistia, Philistine pottery shifts to a hybrid, Bichrome ware with a more stylized bird motif, painted spirals, frames, rarely fish, and sometimes an Egyptian-style lotus blossom. Although other Aegean-derived items continue in Iron IB, and likewise merge with Canaanite material culture (e.g., hybrid “Orpheus” jug from Megiddo Stratum VIA), Bichrome pottery characterizes Philistine culture: It is also exported to settlements along the borders of Philistia and reaches the foothills of the Israelite hill country. The Philistine heartland contains multiple burial types, from the common indigenous simple pit-graves and rectilinear cist graves to foreign-derived pithos burials (Azor; Tell Zeror), some Aegean(?)-derived rock-cut bench tombs (Tell el-Farah South), and sporadic cremation burials (e.g., Azor) (Dothan 1993, 128, 129; Kochavi 1993, 1525; Yisraeli 1993, 442–43).

Israelites: In contrast to the coastal concentration of foreign influences, the southern hill country region is associated particularly with the emergence and foundation of the early Israelites (and other groups), who display roots from indigenous semi-nomadic pastoralists, Canaanite and other peoples (Faust 2006). The early Israelites develop into an agrarian population comprised mainly of small, egalitarian communities (extended households and villages), clearing trees, creating terraces for farming, storing water in cisterns, and maintaining small herds (Gilboa 2014, 640– 44). Most sites contain a few houses within an ovoid enclosure that closely reflects semi- nomadic pastoralist camps, while the material culture is utilitarian and simple, drawing upon Canaanite pottery, arts, crafts, and architecture. Hence, the early Israelites likely formed from multiple peoples, perhaps encompassing Canaanite refugees from coastal towns, other nomadic groups (Shasu; ‘Apiru; Seir Bedu?), and possibly some Levantine persons returning from Egypt (e.g., perhaps reflecting the earlier Hyksos flight from Egypt?; other fugitives?; see Caminos 1954, 255 “Exodus Papyrus”) (Dever 2003; Miller and Hayes 2006; Maeir 2013; Levy, Schneider and Propp 2015).

Conclusions: Although the Sea Peoples and other ethnic groups (especially Philistines) remained politically and culturally separate from Israel by the Iron Age IIA (1000–925 BCE), much of their preserved material culture become less distinct or disappears, being submerged within the predominant Canaanite-derived cultures (including Phoenician influence). For instance, red slipped and burnished pottery, which is popular in Phoenicia, appears alongside Philistine Bichrome ware in the 11th century BCE (Qasile Strata XI–X), some containers share red slip surface treatment and Bichrome decoration (e.g., black-painted spirals), while Philistine Bichrome ware disappears by 1000 BCE (Ben-Shlomo 2014, 723). During the Iron Age II we become more reliant upon biblical, Egyptian, and Syro-Mesopotamian textual-pictorial records to clarify the nature of the various Sea Peoples’ descendants (particularly the Philistines) and other ethnic groupings in the Levant (Maeir 2013b, 241–42).

Levantine Periods: Egyptian Egyptian rulers: Mycenaean (dates & terminology in flux) Dynasties: pottery (Greece): Late Bronze Age Transitional Dynasty 18 Ahmose (1550–1525 BCE) Late Helladic I IA MB-LB or (Early Egyptian Amenhotep I (1525–1504 BCE) (1550–1450 MB IIC – LB New Kingdom Thutmose I (1504–1492 BCE) Late Helladic IIA BCE) IA Empire) Thutmose II (1492–1479 BCE) (1550-1458+ Thutmose III (1479–1425 BCE) BCE) Qn. Hatshepsut (1473–1458 BCE) Late Bronze Age Late Bronze Dynasty 18 Thutmose III (1479–1425 BCE) Late Helladic IIB IB Age IB (consolidation Amenhotep II (1427–1400 BCE) (1450–1400 (1458-1390 of empire) Thutmose IV (1400–1390 BCE) BCE) BCE) Late Bronze Age Late Bronze Dynasty 18 Amenhotep III (1390–1352 BCE) Late Helladic IIIA1 IIA Age IIA (Amarna Amenhotep IV (1352–1336 BCE) Late Helladic IIIA2 (1400–1300 (1390-1295 period) (Akhenaten) BCE) BCE) Neferneferuaten (1338–1336 Or LB IB-IIA BCE) transition is (Smenkhara) sometimes Tutankhamun (1336–1327 BCE) dated ca. Ay (1327–1323 BCE) 1352 BCE Horemheb (1323–1295 BCE) Late Bronze Age Late Bronze Dynasty 19 Ramesses I (1295–1186 BCE) Late Helladic IIIB IIB Age IIB (early Sety I (1294–1279 BCE) (1300–1200 (1295-1177 Ramesside Ramesses II (1279–1213 BCE) BCE) BCE) period) Merenptah (1213–1203 BCE) Amenmessu (1203–1200? BCE) Sety II (1200–1194 BCE) Siptah (1194–1188 BCE) Queen Tausret (1188–1186 BCE) LB III or Iron Early Dynasty 20 Sethnakht (1186–1184 BCE) Late Helladic IIIC Age IA Iron Age I (Egyptian Ramesses III (1184–1153 BCE) (1200–1150 Ramesside Ramesses IV (1153–1147 BCE) BCE) Empire retains Ramesses V (1147–1143 BCE) Canaan) Ramesses VI (1143–1136 BCE) Iron Age IB Dynasty 20 Ramesses VII (1136–1129 BCE) Late Helladic IIIC (1150–1000 (Late Ramesses VIII (1129–1126 BCE) BCE) Ramesside Ramesses IX (1126–1108 BCE) Egypt retains Ramesses X (1108–1099 BCE) Late Nubia) Ramesses XI (1099–1069 BCE) Iron Age I Dynasty 21 Smendes (1069–945 BCE) Submycenaean (Third Amenemnisu (1043–1039 BCE) Intermediate Psusennes I (1039–991 BCE) Period) TABLE 1: Late Bronze Age to Iron Age I Near East, Egyptian and Aegean chronologies (after Mazar 1990, 238; Shaw 2000, 481; Shelmerdine 2008, 4–5 figures 1.1–2; see also Mumford 2001b, 361 table 1; Sherratt in Steiner and Killebrew 2014, 499 table 33.1).

Works Cited Bachhuber, Christoph. 2013. “Sea Peoples.” Pages 6098–99 in The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Volume 11: Ro-Te. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine, and Sabine R. Huebner. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Bachhuber, C. and Roberts, R. G., (eds.). 2009. Forces of Transformation: The End of the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean. Banea Monograph Book 1. Oxford: Oxbow Books.

Beckman, G. M., Bryce, T. R., and Cline, E. H. 2011. The Ahhiyawa Texts. Society of Biblical Literature, Writings from the Ancient World volume 28. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.

Ben-Shlomo, David. 2014. “Philistia during the Iron Age II Period.” Pages 717–42 (Chapter 47) in The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant c. 8000 – 332 BCE. Edited by Margreet L. Steiner and Ann E. Killebrew. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bienkowski, Piotr (ed.). 1992. Early Edom and Moab: The Beginnings of the Iron Age in Southern Jordan. Sheffield Archaeological Monographs 7. Oxford: The Alden Press.

Bietak, Manfred. 2007. “Egypt and the Levant.” Pages 417–48 (Chapter 29) in The Egyptian World. Edited by Toby A. Wilkinson. The Routledge Worlds. Abingdon: Routledge.

Broodbank, Cyprian. 2013. The Making of the Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean from the Beginning to the Emergence of the Classical World. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bryan, Betsy M. 1991. The Reign of Thutmose IV. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.

Bryce, Trevor. 2014. Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bryce, Trevor. 2005. The Kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford: Clarendon Press (second edition).

Caminos, Ricardo A. 1954. Late-Egyptian Miscellanies. Brown Egyptological Studies 1. London: Oxford University Press.

Cline, Eric H. 2014. 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed. Turning Points in Ancient History. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Cline, Eric H. and O'Connor, David (eds.). 2006. Thutmose III: A New Biography. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Cohen, Raymond and Westbrook, Raymond (ed.). 2000. Amarna Diplomacy: The Beginnings of International Relations. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.

D'Amato, Raffaele and Salimbeti, Andrea. 2015. Sea Peoples of the Mediterranean c. 1400 BC – 1000 BC. Osprey: Elite Series 204. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd.

Deger-Jalkotzy, Sigrid. 2008. “Decline, destruction, aftermath.” Pages 387–416 (chapter 15) in The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Edited by Cynthia W. Shelmerdine (ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Der Manuelian, Peter. 1987. Studies in the Reign of Amenophis II. Hildeshimer Agyptologische Beitrage. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg Verlag.

Dever, William G. 2003. Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From? Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Dever, William G. 1990. Recent Archaeological Discoveries and Biblical Research. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

Dodson, Aidan. 2014. Amarna Sunrise: Egypt from Golden Age to Age of Heresy. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.

Dodson, Aidan. 2013. “Chronology, Pharaonic Egypt.” Pages 1485–87 in The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Volume 3: Be-Co. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine, and Sabine R. Huebner. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Dodson, Aidan. 2012. Afterglow of Empire: Egypt from the Fall of the New Kingdom to the Saite Renaissance. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.

Dodson, Aidan. 2010. Poisoned Legacy: The Fall of the Nineteenth Egyptian Dynasty. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.

Dodson, Aidan. 2009. Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-Reformation. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.

Dothan, Moshe. 1993. “Azor.” Pages 125–29 in The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, Volume 1. Edited by Ephraim Stern, Ayelet Lewinson-Gilboa, and Joseph Aviram. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.

Dothan, Trude and Nahmias-Lotan, Tamar. 2010. “A lamp and bowl Deposit.” Pages 111–13 (Chapter 5) in Deir el-Balah: Excavations in 1977–1982 in the Cemetery and Settlement, Volume 2: The Finds. Edited by Trude Dothan and Baruch Brandl. QEDEM Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology 50. Jerusalem: Ahva Press.

Dothan, Trude. 2008. Deir el-Balah: Uncovering an Egyptian Outpost in Canaan from the Time of the Exodus. Jerusalem: The Israel Museum.

Dothan, Trude and Dothan, M. 1992. People of the Sea: The Search for the Philistines. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.

Dothan, Trude. 1982. The Philistines and Their Material Culture. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.

Drews, R. 1993. The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe Ca.1200 B.C. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Faust, Avraham. 2006. Israel's Ethnogenesis: Settlement, Interaction, Expansion and Resistance. Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology. London: Equinox Publishing Ltd.

Frerichs, Ernest S. and Lesko, Leonard H. (eds). 1997. Exodus: The Egyptian Evidence. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.

Gardiner, Alan H. 1947. Ancient Egyptian Onomastica Text, volumes I–II. Oxford: Oxford University Press (1968 reprint).

Gates, Marie-Henriette. 2011. “Southern and Southeastern Anatolia in the Late Bronze Age.” Pages 393–412 (chapter 17) in The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia. Edited by Sharon R. Steadman and Gregory McMahon. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Gilboa, Ayelet. 2014. “The Southern Levant (Cisjordan) during the Iron Age I Period.” Pages 624– 59 (Chapter 41) in The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant c. 8000 – 332 BCE. Edited by Margreet L. Steiner and Ann E. Killebrew. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Goelet, Ogden. 2016. “Tomb Robberies in the Valley of the Kings.” Pages 448–66 in The Oxford Handbook of the Valley of the Kings. Edited by Richard H. Wilkinson and Kent R. Weeks. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Haider, Peter W., Weinstein, James M., Cline, Eric H., and O’Connor, David. 2012. “Nomads of Sea and Desert: An integrated Approach to Ramesses III’s Foreign Policy.” Pages 151–208 in Ramesses III: The Life and Times of Egypt's Last Hero. Edited by Eric H. Cline and David O'Connor. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.

Hasel, Michael G. 1998. Dominance and Resistance: Egyptian Military Activity in the Southern Levant, 1300–1185 BC. Probleme der Agyptologie 11. Leiden: Brill.

Herr, Larry and Najjar, Mohammed. 2008. “The Iron Age.” Pages 311–34 in Jordan: An Archaeological Reader. Edited by Adams, Russell. London: Equinox.

Higginbotham, Carolyn R. 2000. Egyptianization and Elite Emulation in Ramesside Palestine: Governance and Accommodation on the Imperial Periphery. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 2. Leiden: Brill.

Hoffmeier, James K. (ed.). 2014. Excavations in North Sinai. Tell el-Borg I: The "Dwelling of the Lion" on the Ways of Horus. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.

Hoffmeier, James K. 2005. Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hoffmeier, J. K. 1997. Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hoffner, Harry A. 2009. Letters from the Hittite Kingdom. Writings from the Ancient World 15. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.

Holladay, 1997. “Four-Room House.” Pages 337–42 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, Volume 2. Edited by Eric M. Meyers. New York: Oxford University Press.

Karageorghis, Vassos. 1982. Cyprus from the Stone Age to the Romans. London: Thames and Hudson.

Killebrew, Ann E. and Lehmann, Gunnar (eds.). 2013. The Philistines and Other "Sea Peoples" in Text and Archaeology. Society of Biblical Literature, Archaeology and Biblical Studies no.15. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.

Killebrew, Ann E. 2005. Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, and early Israel 1300–1100 B.C.E. Society of Biblical Literature, Archaeology and Biblical Studies no.9. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.

Kitchen, Kenneth A. 2008. Ramesside Inscriptions: Translated and Annotated Translations, Volume V: Setnakht, Ramesses III, and Contemporaries. London: Blackwell Publishing.

Kitchen, Kenneth A. 2003. Ramesside Inscriptions: Translated and Annotated Translations, Volume IV: Merenptah and the Late Nineteenth Dynasty. London: Blackwell Publishing.

Kitchen, Kenneth A. 2000. Ramesside Inscriptions: Translated and Annotated Translations, Volume III: Ramesses II, His Contemporaries. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Kitchen, Kenneth A. 1996. Ramesside Inscriptions: Translated and Annotated Translations, Volume II: Ramesses II, Royal Inscriptions. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Kitchen, Kenneth A. 1995. The Third Intermediate Period (1100–650 B.C.) (reprinted with a new preface and the 1986 supplement). Warminster: Aris and Phillips Ltd.

Kitchen, Kenneth A. 1982. Pharaoh Triumphant, the Life and Times of Ramesses II. Monumenta Hannah Sheen Dedicata II. Mississauga: Benben Books.

Knapp, A. Bernard. 2013. The Archaeology of Cyprus from Earliest Prehistory through the Bronze Age. Cambridge World Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kochavi, Moshe. 1993. “Zeror, Tel.” Pages 1524–26 in The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, Volume 4. Edited by Ephraim Stern, Ayelet Lewinson-Gilboa, and Joseph Aviram. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.

Kotsonas, Antonis. 2013. “Chronology, Bronze and Iron Age.” Pages 1485 in The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Volume 3: Be-Co. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine, and Sabine R. Huebner. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Leahy, Anthony. 2001. “Sea Peoples.” Pages 257–60 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, vol. 3: P-Z. Edited by Donald B. Redford. New York: Oxford University Press.

Levy, T. E., Najjar, M., and Ben-Yosef, E. (eds.). 2014. New Insights to the Iron Age Archaeology of Edom, Southern Jordan, Volumes 1–2. UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, Monumenta Archaeologica 35. Los Angeles: The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press.

Levy, T. E., Schneider, T., and Propp, W. H. C. (eds.). 2015. Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective: Text, Archaeology, Culture, and Geoscience. Quantitative Methods in the Humanities and Social Sciences. New York: Springer International Publishing.

Lipinski, Edward. 2006. On the Skirts of Canaan in the Iron Age. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 153. Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters.

Mazar, Amihai. 1990. Archaeology of the Land of the Bible 10,000–586 B.C.E. New York: Doubleday.

Mazar, Amihai. 1985. Excavations at Tell Qasile. Part Two: The Philistine Sanctuary: Various Finds, The Pottery, Conclusions, Appendixes. QEDEM Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology 20. Jerusalem: Ahva Press.

Mazar, Amihai. 1980. Excavations at Tell Qasile. Part One: The Philistine Sanctuary: Architecture and Cult Objects. QEDEM Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology 12. Jerusalem: Ahva Press.

Morenz, Ludwig D. and Popko, Lutz. 2010. “The Second Intermediate Period and the New Kingdom.” Pages 101–19 (Chapter 6) in A Companion to Ancient Egypt, volumes 1–2. Edited by Alan B. Lloyd. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.

Maeir, Aren M. 2013a. “Israel and Judah.” Pages 3523–27 in The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Volume 7: Io-Li. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine, and Sabine R. Huebner. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Maeir, Aren M. 2013b. “Philistia Transforming: Fresh Evidence from Tell eṣ-Ṣafi/Gath on the Transformational Trajectory of the Philistine Culture.” Pages 191–242 (Chapter 9) in The Philistines and Other "Sea Peoples" in Text and Archaeology. Edited by Ann E. Killebrew and Gunnar Lehmann. Society of Biblical Literature, Archaeology and Biblical Studies no.15. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.

Mee, Christopher. 2008. “Mycenaean Greece, the Aegean, and Beyond.” Pages 362–86 (chapter 14) in The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Edited by Cynthia W. Shelmerdine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Miller, J. Maxwell and Hayes, John H. 2006. A History of Ancient Israel and Judah (2nd edition). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.

Moran, William L. 1992. The Amarna Letters. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.

Morris, Ellen Fowles. 2005. The Architecture of Imperialism: Military Bases and the Evolution of Foreign Policy in Egypt's New Kingdom. Probleme der Agyptologie 22. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

Mumford, Gregory. 2014. “Egypt and the Levant.” Pages 69–89 (Chapter 5) in The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant c. 8000 – 332 BCE. Edited by Margreet L. Steiner and Ann E. Killebrew. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Mumford, Gregory. 2007. “Egypto-Levantine relations during the Iron Age to Early Persian periods (Dynasties Late 20 to 26).” Pages 225–88 in Egyptian Stories: A British Egyptological Tribute to Alan B. Lloyd on the Occasion of His Retirement. Edited by Thomas Schneider and Kasia M. Szpakowska. Münster: Ugarit.

Mumford, Gregory. 2001a. “Syria-Palestine.” Pages 335–43 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, vol. 3: P-Z. Edited by Donald B. Redford. New York: Oxford University Press.

Mumford, Gregory. 2001b. “Mediterranean Area.” Pages 358–67 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, vol. 2: G-O. Edited by Donald B. Redford. New York: Oxford University Press.

Mumford, Gregory. 1998. International Relations Between Egypt, Sinai, and Syria-Palestine during the Late Bronze Age to Early Persian Period (Dynasties 18–26: c. 1550–525 B.C.). Toronto: PhD dissertation at the University of Toronto. On-line access: http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape10/PQDD_0020/NQ45825.pdf

Murnane, William J. 1980. United With Eternity: A Concise Guide to the Monuments of Medinet Habu. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.

O’Connor, David. 2000. “The Sea Peoples and the Egyptian Sources.” Pages 85–101 (chapter 5) in The Sea Peoples and Their World: A Reassessment. Edited by Eliezer D. Oren. University Museum Monograph 108. Philadelphia: University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania.

O'Connor, David and Cline, Eric H. 1998. Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Oren, Eliezer D. (ed.). 2000. The Sea Peoples and Their World: A Reassessment. University Museum Monograph 108. Philadelphia: University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania.

Peden, Alexander J. 2001. The Graffiti of Pharaonic Egypt: Scope and Roles of Informal Writings (c.3100–332 BC). Probleme der Agyptologie 17. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

Redford, Donald B. 2006. A History of Ancient Egypt: Egyptian Civilization in Context. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co.

Redford, Donald B. 2003. The Wars in Syria and Palestine of Thutmose III. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 16. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

Redford, Susan. 2002. The Harem Conspiracy: The Murder of Ramesses III. Dekalb: Northern Illinois University Press.

Renfrew, Colin and Bahn, Paul. 2016. Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice (seventh edition). London: Thames and Hudson.

Sader, Hélène. 2014. “The Northern Levant during the Iron Age I Period.” Pages 607–23 (Chapter 40) in The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant c. 8000 – 332 BCE. Edited by Margreet L. Steiner and Ann E. Killebrew. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sagonia, Antonio and Zimansky, Paul. 2009. Ancient Turkey. Routledge World Archaeology. London: Routledge.

Sandars, N. K. 1985. The Sea Peoples: Warriors of the Ancient Mediterranean. London: Thames and Hudson.

Seeher, Jürgen. 2011. “The Plateau: The Hittites.” Pages 376–92 (chapter 16) in The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia. Edited by Sharon R. Steadman and Gregory McMahon. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Simpson, William Kelly (ed.). 2003. The Literature of Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Stories, Instructions, Stelae, Autobiographies, and Poetry (Third edition). New Haven: Yale University Press.

Singer, Itamar. 1988. “The Origin of the Sea Peoples and Their Settlement on the Coast of Canaan.” Pages 239–50 in Society and Economy in the Eastern Mediterranean (c. 1500–1000 BC). Edited by Michael Heltzer and Edward Lipinski. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 23. Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters.

Spalinger, Anthony J. 2005. War in Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Spencer, Neal. 2014. Kom Firin II: The Urban Fabric and Landscape. The British Museum Reseach Publication no.192. London: British Museum Press.

Stager, Lawrence E. 1995. “The Impact of the Sea Peoples in Canaan (1185-1050 BCE).” Pages 332–48 in The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land. Edited by Thomas E. Levy. New York: Facts on File Inc.

Stavi, Boaz. 2015. The Reign of Tudhaliya II and Šuppiluliuma I: The Contribution of the Hittite Documentation to a Reconstruction of the Amarna Age. Texte der Hethiter, Philologische und Historische Studien zur Altanatolisk, Heft 31. Heidelberg: Universitatsverlag Winter GmbH Heidelberg.

Steiner, Margreet L. and Killebrew, Ann E. (eds.). 2014. The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant c. 8000 – 332 BCE. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Tartaron, Thomas F. 2013. Maritime Networks in the Mycenaean World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Tatton-Brown, Veronica. 1988. Ancient Cyprus. British Museum. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Tubb, Jonathan N. 2000. “Sea Peoples in the Jordan Valley.” Pages 181–96 (Chapter 9) in The Sea Peoples and Their World: A Reassessment. Edited by Eliezer D. Oren. University Museum Monograph 108. Philadelphia: University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania.

Van den Hout, Theo P. J. 2013. “A Short History of the Hittite Kingdom and Empire.” Pages 22– 45 in Hititler: Bir Anadolu Imparatorlugu / Hittites: An Anatolian Empire (Bilingual Turkish/English edition). Edited by Meltem Dogan-Alparslan and Metin Alparslan; Translated by Mary Iṣin and Gürkan Ergin. Istanbul: Yapi Kredi Yayinlari.

Van Dijk, Jacobus. 2000. “The Amarna Period and the Later New Kingdom.” Pages 272–329 (Chapter 10) in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Edited by Ian Shaw. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Vernus, Pascal. 2003. Affairs and Scandals in Ancient Egypt. Translated by David Lorton. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Wachsmann, Shelly. 2000. “To the Sea of the Philistines.” Pages 103–43 (chapter 6) in The Sea Peoples and Their World: A Reassessment. University Museum Monograph 108. Edited by Eliezer D. Oren. Philadelphia: University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania.

Walsh, Peter. 2014. The Archaeology of Mediterranean Landscapes: Human-Environment Interaction from the Neolithic to the Roman Period. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ward, William A. and Joukowsky, Martha S. (eds). 1992. The Crisis Years: The 12th Century B.C. from beyond the Danube to the Tigris. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co.

Wente, Edward. 1990. Letters from Ancient Egypt. Society of Biblical Literature, Writings from the Ancient World vol. 1. Atlanta: Scholars Press.

Yassur-Landau, Assaf. 2010. The Philistines and Aegean Migration at the End of the Late Bronze Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Yisraeli, Yael. 1993. “Far‘ah, Tell El- (South).” Pages 441–44 in The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, Volume 2. Edited by Ephraim Stern, Ayelet Lewinson-Gilboa, and Joseph Aviram. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.

Yon, Marguerite. 2006. The City of Ugarit at Tell Ras Shamra. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.

Younker, Randall W. 2003. “The Iron Age in the Southern Levant.” Pages 367–82 in Near Eastern Archaeology: A Reader. Edited by Suzanne Richard. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.

Illustrations: Figure 1: Map of the East Mediterranean, showing site destructions dating to ca. 1200 BC (STOCK IMAGE).

Figure 2: Illustration of the overland migration of Sea Peoples into Canaan, from the Medinet Habu reliefs of Ramesses III (STOCK IMAGE).

Figure 3: Illustration of the Sea Peoples’ fleet destroyed at the eastern delta river mouth, from the Medinet Habu reliefs of Ramesses III (STOCK IMAGE).

Figure 4: Map of the political and ethnic composition of the Levant during Iron Age IA-B, including the Philistine settlement (STOCK IMAGE).

ANT 245: Peoples of the World: Mediterranean Area, From Prehistory to the Trojan War. Notes & images compiled by Gregory Mumford (2018) Lecture 21: The Sea Peoples & others 1200 BC Lecture outline: 1. End of the Late Bronze Age: Perspective from Ancient Egypt 2. End of the Late Bronze Age: Perspective of the Aegean & Mycenaeans 3. End of the Late Bronze Age: From the perspective of Anatiolia (i.e., mainly the Hittite Empire …) 4. End of the Late Bronze Age: From the perspective of the Levant (i.e., mostly Hitttite Empire) & Cyprus (Alashiya). 5. End of the Late Bronze Age: From the perspective of the Levant (i.e., mostly Egyptian Empire): Ramesses III … 6. End of the Late Bronze Age: Aftermath of the Sea Peoples’ movements against Egypt & Canaan: Ramesses III … 7. Iron Age IA (1,200 – 1,150 BCE): Post-Sea Peoples’ Egyptian empire … 8. The later Iron Age I (1B) (Ca. 1150 - 1000 BCE): Post “Late Bronze Age” (mostly transitional) in the Near East … 9. The later Iron Age I (1B) (Ca. 1150 - 1000 BCE): The legacy of the Canaanites, Peleset & elusive “Sea Peoples” in the Near East … 10. Summary: 11. Bibliography 1. End of the Late Bronze Age Ca. “1200 BCE” (1177 BC)

One perspective = from Ancient Egypt (temp. Ramesses III) Ramesses III. Year 5: Prelude to Sea Peoples - Libya invades Egypt (W. delta). - Libyan coalition composed of Libyan, Meshwesh, and Seped peoples.

- Meshwesh (assoc. with Sea Peoples) - Seped = unknown tribe.

- Libyan excuse for attacking Egypt: = R-III placed a child as chieftain of the Libyan Tjemehu-tribe.

- Reflects standard Egyptian practise: a. Taking vassal heirs as hostages b. Returning Egyptianized heir to ruler upon father’s death.

- Libyan tribes already coveting W. Delta agricultural lands. Ramesses III.

Year 5 (cont.):

- Like Merenptah, R-III requested advice through an oracle from Amun.

- In response he is provided a sword to destroy Libyans (depicted in temple).

- R-III claims total victory. a. Dead Libyans = 1000s b. POWs → slaves for state & temples. Ramesses III. Year 8: Sea Peoples Factors → Sea Peoples: - Year 8: R-III faced serious threat that affected entire E. Mediterranean: a. mass-migrations of peoples across the sea, and b. overland migrations of displaced populations & refugees from nations & peoples defeated by the first wave of invasions & migrants. - Many reasons suggested for the massive migrations ca. 1200 BC, which actually span 50 years: E.g., 1. Climatic conditions: Drought 2. Famine (from droughts) 3. “Nomadic” pressures & movements in Europe, displacing Mediterranean coastal populations (eg, Mycenaeans). 4. Ripple effect of displaced populations, migrants, invaders, raiders, refugees, Ramesses III.

Year 8: Sea Peoples -Ramesses III reveals Egypt’s perspective:

“The foreign countries made a plot in their islands, and the lands were dislodged and scattered by battle all at one time and no land could stand before their arms: Khatte (Hittites), KHATTE Qode (Syria), Arzawa Crch Alashiya Carchemish (Syria), QODE

Arzawa (S. Anatolia),

& Alashiya (Cyprus)." Ramesses III.

Sea Peoples’ composition & origins: -Three new enemies: 1.Peleset (Philistines) =Anatolia/Aegean 2.Tjekker =NW Anatolia (Troad?) 3.Weshwesh =Anatolia (Troy?)

-Four old enemies: 4.Shardana→Sardinia =North Syria 5.Teresh = Lydia (W. Anatolia) 6.Sheklesh (→Sicily) =South Italy(?) 7.Denyen (Danuna) =Danaoi (of the Iliad?) (or Cilicia; SE Anatolia).

-Shardana & Denyen =known in 14th cent. BC Peleset -Teresh & Sheklesh =Known under Merenptah

-Other troublesome groups since 14th cent. BC (absent from Ramesses III’s list): 8. Lukka (Lycia in SW Anatolia) 9. Ekwesh (West Anatolia) 2. End of the Late Bronze Age Ca. “1200 BCE” (1177 BC)

From the perspective of The Aegean & Mycenaeans … LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC End of the Late Bronze Age: • The late 13th cent. BC, ca.1200 BC, witnessed major political, social, and economic turmoil throughout the East Mediterranean. • Most Mycenaean palaces = destroyed & abandoned (raids; earthquakes; etc) • Hittite empire collapses ca.1200 BC Ca. 1200 BC Sea Peoples • Coastal raids occur increasingly in the East Mediterranean: Ugarit, Cyprus,+ • Many East Mediterranean cities are destroyed ca.1200 BC (esp. on coast) • Displaced populations (refugees) migrate to new regions, → initiating further population displacements. • “Sea Peoples” raid and settle many areas throughout E. Mediterranean. Site of “Philister” = Sea Peoples & displaced populations: NOT “Philistines”

Map showing only general movements

1. Shardana/Sherden: from N. Syria → Cyprus → Sardinia (9th cent BC) 2. Shekelesh: from Anatolia? → Sikels of Sicily (& S. Italy) 3. Denyen/Danuna from Hatay? (Anatolia?) → Danites? In Palestine 4. Tjeker from W.Anatolia/Troad? → Palestinian coast N. of Tjeker 5. Peleset from Anatolia? → Palestine = Philistines 6. Meshwesh via Libyan raids → Egypt Chiefs of Ma Dyn.21-22 7. Weshwesh from Ilios? → ? 8. Teresh/Tursha (Lydia?), Lukka (Anatolia), Ekwesh (Acheans?) → disappear! BACKGROUND: Late Bronze Age. LB 2B: 1300 – 1200 BC. GREECE & AEGEAN (MYCENAE) • Reduction in domestic trade • Reduction in international trade • Natural disasters: varying evidence Some drought →famine; earthquake • Political troubles:city states warring “Dorian” invasion?(refuted by specialists!) • Population pressures (hill country) • Palace system collapse/revolt • Chain reaction → “Dark Age” Mycenae: Palace of Agamemnon? BACKGROUND: Late Bronze Age. PYLOS Palace of Nestor LB 2B: 1300 – 1200 BC. 1200 GREECE & the AEGEAN: BC • Interruptions in trade with East sea e.g., metal shortages raid! • Bolstering palace fortifications Securing water sources in palaces • 1250-1200 BC more destructions! 1200 BC further fortifications (implying fear of attack & siege) • Pylos linear B tablets: “Thus the watchers are guarding the coastal regions” (800 troops dispatched). 1200 BC: • All Mycenaean palaces =destroyed • Many settlements are destroyed • Other settlements are abandoned • A few sites continue → 12th cent. E.g., Asine • Some sites reoccupied/flourishing Aegean – Greece Ca. 1300-1200 BCE: • Decline of the Mycenaeans & Aegean a. is complicated, b. remains unclear c. is widely debated. NOTE: No evidence at all for “Dorians” • Decline involves multiple factors: E.g., droughts; famines; earthquakes; warfare; palace system collapse; • Decline varies in nature & intensity between polities and regions … • Decline ranges from gradual to more rapid developments (see Deger- Jalkotzy 2008, 387). Details: • Earlier attacks+earthquake destruction appear at some Mycenaean palace centres near end of Late Helladic IIIB1 ca. 1300–1250 BCE: E.g., Mycenae, Tiryns, and Thebes. Aegean – Greece Ca. 1300-1200 BCE: Details: • Remainder of 13th cent. BCE (LH IIIB2: 1250–1190 BCE) = characterized by increasing instability and decline: E.g., Mycenean palace citadels & Aegean settlements experience diverse problems a.Over exploitation of agricultural lands, soils & other resources (i.e., evident in several regions); b. Natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes; flooding; droughts; disease); c. Declining populations (e.g., northern Rhodes); d. Some potential population influxes (foreign migrants [“Dorians”? = NO!); e. Gradual impoverishment and abandonment (e.g., Grotta on Naxos); f. Strengthening & expansion of some fortifications (Mycenae; Tiryns; Midea; Athens; Ayios Andreas on Siphnos; Phylakopi on Melos). Aegean – Greece Ca. 1300-1200 BCE: Generic watchtower Details: g. Some augmentation of coastal watch systems (e.g., Pylos); h. Evidence for attacks & destructions (Mycenae; Tiryns; Midea; Thebes; Orchomenos; Dimini; Gla); i. Other circumstances (civil strife). Some evidence for sudden “collapse”: • Despite such long-term developments, many Mycenaean palace-citadels, including some Linear B tablets, reveal indications for a “final disaster” with little to no warning at the end of Late Generic raiders Helladic IIIB2 (ca. 1200 / 1190 BCE): E.g., a conflagration at Thebes baked some wet Linear B tablets = unexpected • This disaster disrupted an otherwise functioning society, administration, economy, and lifestyle (see Deger- Jalkotzy 2008, 390–92). Aegean – Greece Ca. 1300-1200 BCE: Details: • The potential culprits for this disaster vary widely: a. Indigenous uprisings, b. warring neighbors (Mycenaean Big Men, chiefdoms, and city states), c. external raiders (Sea Peoples?; northern “Dorian” invasion? [= NO!; = refuted]; “barbarians”?). • However, while individual sites and circumstances fit some of these scenarios, it seems that multiple and varying factors contributed to both the gradual and ultimate collapse of Mycenaean and Aegean societies (see Tartaron 2013, 17–20). Greece & Aegean ca. 1225-1100 BC: End of Mycenaeans Summarized … • The “collapse” of the Mycenaean city states and culture is still greatly debated. • Many sites = destroyed by fire or = abandoned • Some sites remain abandoned • Other sites are re-occupied & flourish. • Some Mycenaeans settling in Cyprus → Situation has created many theories and more questions. LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC

Theories behind the Sea Peoples: • “Dorian invasion” from the north into Greece (Mycenae) → now discounted. Other suggestions for Mycenaean collapse: - Drought (i.e., climatic factors …), - Famine (byproduct of less rainfall), - Population movements (var. factors), - Economic decline (var. factors), - Systemic collapse of Mycenaean palace system (long-term & short-term), - Earthquake destruction (separate), - Raids (textual attestations)(var. factors) Hittite empire collapses: suffered from - Drought & famine, - Strife over royal succession, - External pressures (raids; revolts), - Invasion from norther tribes (Kaska). - Etc. 3. End of the Late Bronze Age Ca. “1200 BCE” (1177 BC)

From the perspective of Anatiolia (i.e., mainly the Hittite Empire …) Anatolia Ca. 1300-1200 BCE: Details: • Despite the popular assignment of the “Sea Peoples” as the ‘main cause’ behind the ca. 1200 BCE collapse of Hatti, Arzawa, Kizuwadna, Willusa (Troy?), and elsewhere, the underlying mechanisms & factors are complex, unclear and debated (see Bryce 2005, 327–51; Beckman, Bryce and Cline 2011, 267–82). • At a superficial level, the complex socio-political landscape across Anatolia did encounter … a. tumultuous disturbances, b. destructions, c. abandonments, and d. other socio-economic, political and cultural changes … at the end of the Late Bronze Age. Anatolia Ca. 1300-1200 BCE: Details: • However, the Hittite Empire did face increasing pressures along some of its frontiers, including… a. vassal rebellions (western & southern Anatolia), b. Kaska tribal raids from northern Anatolia, and c. the expansion of & conflict with the Assyrian Empire to the southeast. • During the late 13th century BCE, the Hittite heartland struggled increasingly with a. issues over succession to the throne, b. shortages in agricultural laborers, c. a declining economy, plus … d. widespread natural disasters such as prolonged droughts, famine, disease, and earthquakes (e.g., Hisarlik/Troy) (Van den Hout 2013, 41–43; Bryce 2014, 86–94) Anatolia Ca. 1300-1200 BCE: Details: • Hence, the “Sea Peoples,” many of whom appear to have originated from western and southern Anatolia, including a few groups that had been active in this region for a few centuries, probably reflect only one of many components/factors aiding in, and emerging from, the “fall” of Late Bronze Age Anatolia. Multi-causal factors • By the early 12th cent. BCE, many in (ancient) “collapse” … polities and sites are destroyed and abandoned in Hatti and adjacent regions, including the Hittite capital at Hattusas, while other sites have squatter occupation, reduced village communities, or re-settlement nearby (Sagona and Zimansky 2009, 287, 291–92; Gates 2011, 405; Seeher 2011, 384). BACKGROUND: Late Bronze Age. LB 2B: 1300 – 1200 BC. ANATOLIA: summary of troubles… The Hittites and their neighbours: • Attacks from North by Kaska tribes • Attacks from Southeast by Assyria • Provincial regions along borders breaking free →independent polities • Major vassals breaking free • Over-reliance on prof. chariot force (too many regions to fight) • No (real) Hittite naval power to counter sea raiders beyond frontiers. • Vassal states with naval vessels (Lukka; Ugarit) probably looking after their own interests. • Increasing internal pressures within royal family and empire. Ramesses III. Fall of Hittite kingdom: - Sea Peoples’ confederation helped to destroy the Hittite empire along the coast:

- Hittite battle with maritime marauders from Cyprus is recorded by Suppiluliumas II:

"I mobilised, with speed, I Suppiluliumas the Great, I reached the Sea. The ships of Alashiya (Cyprus) came up against me and gave battle, Cyprus three times out at sea ... when I arrived on dry land the enemy came against me to do battle in multitudes ... I fought them ...“ Ramesses III. Destruction of the Hittites: - The Hittite empire fell from a combination of factors:

1. Increasing pressures from hostile Assyrians in N. Iraq,

2. Civil strife in E. Anatolia, rebellions in W. Anatolia,

3. hostile Northern Kaska tribes attacking Khatti,

4. Internal unrest in Hittite homeland,

5. Coastal raids by Sea Peoples (tipping fragile balance).

6. Etc. LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC

Theories behind the Sea Peoples: • “Dorian” invasion from the north into Greece (Mycenae) → now discounted. Other suggestions for Mycenaean collapse: - Drought, - Famine, - Population movements, - Economic decline, Reconstruction- Systemic collapse ofof MycenaeanHattusha -- palacecapital system, of Hittite Empire - Earthquake destruction, - Raids (textual attestations) Hittite empire collapses: suffered from - Drought & famine, - Strife over royal succession, - External pressures (raids; revolts), - Invasion from norther tribes (Kaska). - Etc. 4. End of the Late Bronze Age Ca. “1200 BCE” (1177 BC)

From the perspective of the Levant (i.e., mostly Hitttite Empire) and Cyprus (Alashiya). LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC Tell Atchana • This East Mediterranean turmoil (= Alalakh) puts a virtual end, albeit temporarily, to regular East-West commerce. • Mycenaean & Cypriot pottery stops being imported into the Levant-Egypt. • Major Levantine cities are destroyed, such as Ugarit & Alalakh. • Many cities destroyed in Cyprus are occupied by Aegean raiders/settlers. • Egypt, and part of its northern empire, withstood the Sea People & refugee raids and migrations, and managed to maintain the empire in Palestine for almost 50 years: 1200-1150 BC. (early Dynasty 20: Ramesses III-VI). • After mid-Dynasty 20 (Ramesses VI), Egypt’s northern empire collapses and Egypt becomes progressively weaker. Ugarit BACKGROUND: Late Bronze Age. LB 2B: 1300 – 1200 BC. Northern SYRIA: Hittite Amurru & N. Phoenicia/Lebanon • Withdrawal of Hittite troops to protect the homeland & strategic areas. • Removal of vassal troops to bolster threatened regions of Hittite empire • Increased attacks by Bedouin against weakened areas: Shasu?; ‘Apiru?; etc. E.g., Ras Shamra = Ugarit Ramesses III : 1184-1153 BC Fall of Syrian kingdoms: -Late 13th century BC archives at Ugarit → 3 letters between Hammurabi of Ugarit & King & Steward of Alashiya (Cyprus):

A.High Steward of Alashiya tells Hammurabi of Ugarit that 20 enemy ships, which had been under observation, have disappeared; he warns Hammurabi to be on guard Ramesses III : 1184-1153

Cypriot letter-1: "Greetings to yourself, and to your country. As to those matters concerning the enemy. It was indeed men of your country (Ugarit) and your boats that did it, your people were indeed Ugarit responsible for that offence, but don't complain to me. Cyprus The twenty boats that the enemy left previously in the mountainous parts did not stay there, but they went off suddenly, and now we don't know where to look for them. I write to inform you, and to put you on your guard." Ramesses III : 1184-1153

Cypriot letter-2: B.King of Alashiya warns Hammurabi of Ugarit advising him to fortify & prepare his towns & troops against attacks: Ugarit

Cyprus

"Thus says the King to Hammurabi King of Ugarit. Greetings, may the gods keep you in good health. What you have written to me "enemy shipping has been sighted at sea." Well now, even if it is true that enemy ships have been sighted, be firm. Indeed then, what of your troops, your chariots, where are they stationed? Are they stationed close at hand or are they not? Who presses you behind the enemy? Fortify your towns, bring the troops and chariots into them, and wait for the enemy with feet firm." Ramesses III : 1184-1153 BC Ugarit letter of response: C. The seriousness and desperation of the situation is relayed in the “last message” (= conjectured) prepared by the subordinate ruler of Ugarit to the King of Alashiya:

"To the king of Alashiya. My father, thus says the King of Ugarit to his son. I fall at my father's feet. Greetings to my father, to your house, your wives, your troops, to all that belongs to the King of Alashiya, many many greetings. My father, the enemy ships are already here, they have set fire to my towns and have done very great damage in the country. My father, did you not know that all my troops were stationed in the Hittite country, and that all my ships are still stationed in Lycia and have not yet returned? So that the country is abandoned to itself ... Consider this my father, there are seven enemy ships that have come and done very great damage. Now if there are more enemy ships let me know about them so that I can decide what to do" [or "know the worst]" Ramesses III : 1184-1153

Ugarit letter of response: -These words may mark the “last official” dictation of the King of Ugarit (this is debated). -The clay tablet was sent to the kiln to be baked --before Ugarit being dispatched. -But the city was attacked, Cyprus plundered, and burnt down, leaving the letter unbaked and still inside the palace kiln (disputed now!). -The diverse groups of Sea Peoples, invaders and migrants (displaced refugees) overran Syria and Amurru (near Byblos), and halted briefly to reconsolidate before attacking Egypt's vassals in Palestine. Ras Shamra: Ugarit & palace. Tablet kiln Port city under Hittite domination in LB 2B (Dyn.19): 1300-1200 BC

Palace LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC

• This East Mediterranean turmoil puts a virtual end, albeit temporarily, to regular East-West commerce. • Mycenaean and Cypriot pottery stops being imported into the Levant-Egypt. • Major Levantine cities are destroyed, such as Ugarit & Alalakh. • Many cities destroyed in Cyprus are occupied by Aegean raiders/settlers. • Egypt, and part of its northern empire, withstood the Sea People & refugee raids and migrations, and managed to maintain the empire in Palestine for almost 50 years: 1200-1150 BC. (early Dynasty 20: Ramesses III-VI). • After mid-Dynasty 20 (Ramesses VI), Egypt’s northern empire collapses and Egypt becomes progressively weaker. Cyprus Ca. 1300-1200 BCE: Details: Like Aegean, Anatolia & Levant… • Cyprus experienced similar … a. site destructions (e.g., Kition; Enkomi), b. abandonment (e.g., Maroni-Vournes; Kalavasos-Ayios Dimitrios), and c. turmoil around 1200 BCE (Knapp 2013, 447–48), but yields closer links to the Sea Peoples and related activities • For much of the preceding 14th - 13th centuries BCE, the Hittites may have dominated or even controlled key portions of Cyprus: E.g., King Šuppiluliuma II refers to naval activity against maritime pirates in this region and a subsequent land battle on Alashiya (Cyprus) E.g., Correspondence between the Hittite vassal ruler of Ugarit & the king of Alashiya reveals hostile Sea Peoples’ fleets, coastal raids, plus other maritime marauders in this region immediately prior to ca. 1200 BCE (Karageorghis 1982, 82–84; Knapp 2013, 448). Cyprus Ca. 1300-1200 BCE: Details: • One probable Sea Peoples-affiliated group, the Mycenaeans, display close links with Cyprus, especially during the 13th cent. BCE (Late Cypriot IIC) & later: a. Imported & locally copied Mycenaean (Late Helladic) IIIB pottery & motifs, bronze equipment & weaponry (Enkomi Tomb 18: greaves & a Naue II-type sword), and other items in settlements and burials; b. Other Cypriot artifacts have typical “Sea People”-type warriors with flaring helmets, circular shields, and tasseled kilts (e.g., Enkomi stamp seal & ivory Ayia Sotira Tomb 4: late LB Age http://cig-icg.blogspot.com/2012/10/ game box) (Mee 2008, 375–77; Karageorghis 1982, 84–85, fig. 68). • Cyprus also contains …: a. Some imported “Trojan ware” (“Grey ware”) at Kition, Enkomi & elsewhere, suggesting additional links with NW Anatolian & Aegean (Karageorghis 1982, 86). Cyprus Ca. 1300-1200 BCE: Details: • One probable Sea Peoples affiliated group, the Mycenaeans, display close links with Cyprus, especially during the 13th cent. BCE (Late Cypriot IIC) & later: a. Imported & locally copied Mycenaean (Late Helladic) IIIB pottery & motifs, bronze equipment & weaponry (Enkomi Tomb 18: greaves & a Naue II-type sword), and other items in settlements and burials; b. Other Cypriot artifacts have typical “Sea People”-type warriors with flaring helmets, circular shields, and tasseled Late Cypriotkilts (e.g., burial Enkomi assemblagestamp seal at &Enkomi ivory game box) (Mee 2008, 375–77; Karageorghis 1982, 84–85, fig. 68). • Cyprus also contains …: a. Some imported “Trojan ware” (“Grey ware”) at Kition, Enkomi & elsewhere, suggesting additional links with NW Anatolian & Aegean (Karageorghis 1982, 86). Cyprus Ca. 1300-1200 BCE: Details: • However, the archaeological and historical data enable a broad range of interpretations concerning the significance of Aegean and West Anatolian imported items, influences, and local copies. • For example: a. Indirect Aegean trade, b. Mycenaean traders, c. Transitory migrants (emissaries; mercenaries; raiders), d. Captives/booty, and e. Potential limited Aegean settlement (i.e., colonization) within a predominant Cypriot population. 5. End of the Late Bronze Age Ca. “1200 BCE” (1177 BC)

From the perspective of the Levant (i.e., mostly Egyptian Empire): Ramesses III … Canaan ca. 1300-1200 BCE: Details: • Canaan exhibits a variety of destruction levels, decline, impoverishment, and abandonment at different sites during 13th cent. BCE → early Iron Age that can be attributed to different scenarios: a. Local nomadic raids (e.g., Shasu; ‘apiru); b. Sea Peoples’ attacks (e.g., Ugarit); c. Egypt’s subjugation of the Israelites and others (attested in Merenptah’s “Israel” stela); d. Israelite conquest (described in later biblical texts [see Merenptah Stela); e. Warring city states (especially in the northern Levant); f. Egyptian conflict with & suppression of rebellious vassal city states (e.g., Ashkelon); g. Potential civil uprisings (1250 BCE destruction of Hazor XIII citadel). Canaan ca. 1300-1200 BCE: E.g., 365 CE earthquake Details: • h. Earthquakes (Deir el-‘Alla; Lachish); i. and more obscure socio-economic, political, and other factors (e.g., depopulation: Jericho remained unoccupied for much of the LB Age). • Although northern Syria fell under Hittite control during much of Late Bronze Age IIA-B (Bryce 2014), this region experienced fluctuating conflict with Egypt, Mitanni, Assyria, and Hatti, while the stabilization of a frontier between the Egypt and Hatti (in year 21 of Ramesses II: mid-13th cent.) did not end the internal strife and regional warfare during the remainder of the Late Bronze Age (Spalinger 2005). Ramesses III. Sea Peoples advance on Egypt: -Sea Peoples’ preparations to attack Egyptian territory are described as follows: "A camp [was set up] in one place in Amor (Syria). They desolated its people, and its land was like that which has never come into being. They were coming forward toward Egypt, while the flame was prepared before them. Their confederation was the Peleset, Tjeker, Shekelesh, Denye(n), and Weshwesh, lands united." SEA PEOPLES & RISE OF EARLY IRON AGE KINGDOMS: 12th–11th cent.BCE Ramesses III. Land battle in Syria-Pal.: -R-III claims success in stopping a. overland migrations and b. Sea Peoples’ maritime invasion: "Now the heart of this god, the Lord of the Gods, was prepared and ready to ensnare them like birds ... I organized my frontier in Djahi, prepared before them: princes, commanders of garrisons, and maryanu" R-III is described as setting "... out for Djahi, like unto Montu, to crush every foreign country that violates his frontier. His troops are like bulls Djahi ready upon the field of battle; his horses are like falcons in the midst of small birds ...." Ramesses III. Land battle in Syria-Pal.: -Depictions show the invaders included ox-drawn carts with women, children & possessions. -This indicates a mass migration of refugees rather than a simple military raid.

-These displaced populations aspired to settle in Palestine and Egypt. Peleset -But Egypt’s forces effectively stopped them somewhere in Palestine --before they reached the eastern frontier in the Sinai? Hoffmeier now suggests they reached Tel Borg In NW Sinai: Destruction of Ramesside fort … ? -Egypt incorporated captives into its military machine and state and temple institutions. Tell el-Borg: Late Ramesside fort destroyed: Sea Peoples? Others? Ramesses III : 1184-1153 BC Preparations for the Sea Battle: -Sea Peoples' fleet → E. Delta.

-Texts relate R-III's preparation using troop ships & chariotry units:

"I have the river-mouths prepared like a strong wall, with warships, galleys and coasters, (fully) equipped, for they were manned completely Ramesside from bow to stern with valiant warriors forts carrying their weapons. The troops consisted of every picked man of Egypt. They were like lions roaring upon the mountain tops. The chariotry consisted of runners, of picked men, of every good and capable chariot-warrior. The horses were quivering in every part of their hoofs. I was valiant Montu, standing fast at their head, so that they might gaze upon the capturing of my hands ..." Ramesses III. The Sea Battle: -Sea-battle = depicted at Medinet Habu: -R-III battle narration: "Those who came forward together on the sea, the full flame was in front of them at the river mouths, while a stockade of lances surrounded them on the shore. They were dragged in, enclosed, and prostrated on the beach, killed, and made into heaps from tail to head. Their ships and their goods were as if fallen into the water" Ramesses III: Battle against the Sea Peoples’ coalition Ramesses III. The Sea Battle: "Now then, the northern countries, which were in their islands, were quivering in their bodies. They penetrated the channels of the river mouths. Their nostrils have ceased (to function, so) their desire is to breathe the breath. His Majesty has gone forth like a whirlwind against them, fighting on the battlefield like a runner. The dread of him and the terror of him have entered into their bodies. They are capsized and overwhelmed where they are. Their heart is taken away, their soul is flown away. Their weapons are scattered upon the sea. His arrow pierces whom of them he may have wished, and the fugitive is become one fallen into the water. His majesty is like an enraged lion, attacking his assailant with his arms: plundering on his right hand and powerful on his left hand, like Seth destroying the serpent 'Evil of Character'. It is Amon-Re who has overthrown for him the lands and has crushed for him every land under his feet" Ramesses III: Battle against the Sea Peoples coalition

Note: Egyptian shipping has a figure head (not a ram) LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC

• This East Mediterranean turmoil puts a virtual end, albeit temporarily, to regular East-West commerce. • Mycenaean and Cypriot pottery stops being imported into the Levant-Egypt. • Major Levantine cities are destroyed, such as Ugarit & Alalakh. • Many cities destroyed in Cyprus are occupied by Aegean raiders/settlers. • Egypt & part of its northern empire, withstood the Sea People & refugee raids and migrations, and managed to maintain the empire in Palestine for almost 50 years: 1200-1150 BC. (early Dynasty 20: Ramesses III-VI). • After mid-Dynasty 20 (Ramesses VI), Egypt’s northern empire collapses and Egypt becomes progressively weaker. 6. End of the Late Bronze Age Ca. “1200 BCE” (1177 BC)

Aftermath of the Sea Peoples’ movements against Egypt & Canaan: Ramesses III … LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC

• This East Mediterranean turmoil puts a virtual end, albeit temporarily, to regular East-West commerce. • Mycenaean and Cypriot pottery stops being imported into the Levant-Egypt. • Major Levantine cities are destroyed, such as Ugarit & Alalakh. • Many destroyed cities in Cyprus are Hatti occupied by some Aegean raiders/settlers. • Egypt & part of its northern empire, = gone ! withstood the Sea People & refugee raids and migrations, and managed to Hatti = gone! maintain the empire in Palestine for almost 50 years: 1200-1150 BC. (early Dynasty 20: Ramesses III-VI). • After mid-Dynasty 20 (Ramesses VI), Egypt’s northern empire collapses and Egypt becomes progressively weaker. Ramesses III. Aftermath of sea battle: -Ramesses III ‘allowed’ remnants of Peleset & Tjekker to settle in coastal areas of Palestine, perhaps bound in garrisons in his service. Byblos -Great Harris Papyrus: a. Fate of Sea-Peoples in yr-8 "…I settled them in strongholds, bound in my name. Their military classes were as numerous as hundred-thousands. I assigned portions for them all TJEKKER with clothing and provisions from the treasuries and granaries every year” -Both Tjekker and Peleset PELESET are attested in Palestine … (a). 100 years later in Wenamun's journey to Byblos, and (b). in later Biblical accounts. 1200 BC Peleset POWs → = the Philistines Egy. troops

Deir el-Balah On Coffin lid? Ramesses III. Year 11: - Second Libyan invasion.

- Libyan coalition: 1. Libu tribes (eg, Tjehnu)

2. Meshwesh tribes (member of Sea Peoples)

3. Five other tribes (eg, Seped).

- Libyan invasion caught R-III off guard - Libyans managed to penetrate W. delta before Egyptian army repelled them & defeated Libyans in W. Delta fringes. -W. Delta forts & garrisons participated. Ramesses III. Year 11 Libyan invasion: - Egyptian army slew 2000+ Libyans

- Captured massive amounts of booty e.g., captives and cattle.

- Egyptians captured commander of Meshwesh: Mesher.

- R-III killed Mesher's father Keper, and Keper's escort, when they came to beg R-III to release Mesher.

-Despite R-III's claims for total victory, (Libyan) raiders infiltrated as far south as Thebes over the next 17 years.

Aftermath: Libyan raids. - E.g., Ostracon Deir el-Medina 35: mentions enemy forces raiding Thebes and disrupting work on the royal tomb. Ramesses III.

Campaign against Edom: -Great Harris Papyrus mentions a minor campaign against Edomites (in Mt. Seir region of the Negev).

Mining missions to Atika (Negev) -R-III sent copper mining expeditions to Atika (= Timna). -Left votive offerings & 1 rock-stela -Rock-cut cartouches in Wadi Radadi 9 km NW of Gulf of Elat (in Negev). -NEW: Rock-cut cartouches at Tayma Sinai: -R-III sent mission to Serabit el-Khadim to mine turquoise.

-He left 45+ royal votives, one stela, & an architectural element at Serabit. EDOM Ramesses III.

R-III undated campaign: Subjugation of Seir-Bedu: "I destroyed the people of Seir among the Bedouin tribes. I razed their tents: their people, their property, and their cattle as well, without number, pinioned and carried away in captivity, as the tribute of Egypt. I gave them to the Ennead of the gods, as slaves for their houses"

SEIR Canaan ca. 1300-1200 BCE: Details: • Aside from the failed Sea Peoples’ attacks around 1200 BCE, Egypt also experiences increasing turmoil throughout Dynasties 19–20 (1300– 1069 BCE): a. Declining climatic conditions (droughts; low Niles; famines); b. Vassal revolts in Canaan & Nubia (Sety I; Ramesses II; Merenptah; Ramesses III–IV); c. Campaigns abroad (Sety I and Ramesses II’s attempts to regain Amurru and Kadesh from Hatti); d. Bedouin hostilities (Libyan and Meshwesh incursions from the Western Desert; Shasu raids across North Sinai; subjugation of the Seir Bedu [Negev?]); Canaan ca. 1300-1200 BCE: e. Egypt’s militarization of key frontier regions and imperial territories (fortifying the western Delta, north Sinai and Canaan); f. Economic hardship (depletion of Nubian gold mines; growing inflation; royal tomb workmen’s strikes; increasing tomb robberies), g. An evident rise in corruption (theft of temple wealth; widespread involvement in Theban tomb robberies), h. Civil strife (fights over the royal succession; the assassination of Ramesses III [slit throat]; power struggles between the king and Amun cult), and … i. the eventual dissolution of Egypt into a southern Theban theocracy and a northern Tanite kingdom under the nominal leadership of Ramesses XI. 7. Iron Age:

Iron Age IA (1,200 – 1,150 BCE) Post-Sea Peoples’ Egyptian empire … LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC

• This East Mediterranean turmoil puts a virtual end, albeit temporarily, to regular East-West commerce. • Mycenaean and Cypriot pottery stops being imported into the Levant-Egypt. • Major Levantine cities are destroyed, such as Ugarit & Alalakh. • Many destroyed cities in Cyprus are occupied by some Aegean raiders/settlers. • Egypt & part of its northern empire, withstood the Sea People & refugee raids and migrations, and managed to maintain the empire in Palestine for almost 50 years: 1200-1150 BC. (early Dynasty 20: Ramesses III-VI). • After mid-Dynasty 20 (Ramesses VI), Egypt’s northern empire collapses and Egypt becomes progressively weaker. Beth Shan Beth Shan: Houses 1500 & 1700 Contents: during reign of Ramesses III • 64 Canaanite potsherds: 3 cooking pots; bowls; cup-and-saucer; bowls; chalices; jars; juglets; lentoid flasks; pyxides; stand. • 8-10 Egyptian potsherds: 4 beer bottles; 2 bowls; 3 spin.-bowls; duck-headed bowl. • 5 Cypriot sherds: • 3 Mycenaean sherds: • 20 Egyptian architectural pieces • 12 generic architectural pieces • Artefacts: Containers (of var. materials); basalt mortar; toiletries (comb); jewellery; Ramesses-Weser-Khepesh seals; figurines; spindle whorls; fittings; +. → 151 artefacts: Local – regional = 74% (111) Egyptian(izing) = 23% (35) Cypriot = 3% (5) Mycenaean = 2% (3) Beth Shan: Ramesses III Ramesses III.

Syro-Palestinian vassals: -3 Egyptian cults owning land and revenues in Syria-Palestine: a. Amun of Thebes, b. Re of Heliopolis, c. Ptah of Memphis.

Ramesses III: a. built mercantile & naval ships b. provisioned crews & troops c. shipping Levantine products to the estates of each cult. Ramesses III : 1184-1153 BC SALAMINE Syria-Palestine: R-III’s name a. Wadi el-Arish (scarab), b. Tell Farah South (scarab), c. Tell Jemma (scarab), BYBLOS d. Beth Shemesh (scarab), e. Lachish (AE gate? plaque), b. Gezer (faience vase frag.), c. Beth Shan (basalt statue), d. Byblos (calcite vessel frag.), e. Tell Sera (potsherd) BETH SHAN

Cyprus: R-III’s name a. Salamine (11th cent. BC tomb) GEZER b. other sites in Cyprus B. SHEMESH LACHISH Punt: -R-III dispatched an expedition JEMMEH TELL SERA across eastern desert to Red Sea; expedition assembles boats for W. ARISH T. FARAH (S) voyage to Punt. Ramesses IV.

Syria-Palestine: -R-IV’s name occurs on scarabs: a. Deir el-Balah, b. Tell Farah (S), c. Tell el-Safi, d. Gezer e. Aphek. -R-IV’s name occurs on a stone block at Tell Delhamia. T. Delhamia Sinai: -R-IV attested building and depositing 12 votives at Hathor Aphek Temple at Serabit. Gezer Nubia: D. el-Balah T. el-Safi (Gath) -Mining expeditions sent to Second Cataract region, near Buhen. T. Farah (S) -R-IV: texts at Buhen & Gerf Husein. LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC

Egypt & Egyptian empire’s collapse: • More ambiguous • Seems to be a slow decline in Dyn.20 Ramesses III-VI. i.e., Timna mine abandoned after Ramesses V (R-VI not attested) i.e., Serabit el-Khadim abandoned after Ramesses VI (last king here) • Last major Egyptian monuments & construction in Palestine date to Ramesses IV, and partly Ramesses VI • Minor royal name scarabs from Ramesses VII-XI appear in South Palestine, but provide evidence for continued trade and diplomatic relations. • Egypt’s Nubian empire collapses under Ramesses XI. LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC

Egypt & Egyptian empire’s collapse: • The end of the Late Bronze Age in Canaan is much more complex ca.1200-1150 BC: • Some Canaanite cities are destroyed thoroughly in late LB 2B (1250-1200): E.g., Hazor. • Some Canaanite towns are destroyed at the end of LB 2B (1200 BC): E.g., Tell Deir Alla (Jordan Valley). A faience vessel of Queen Tawosret and Mycenaean & Cypriot pottery in the last stratum prove a terminus post-quem of ca. 1200 (or 1185) BC. • Many further settlements = destroyed ca.1200 BC / 1150 BC: LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC

Egypt & Egyptian empire’s collapse: • 1250-1200 BC destructions: - Hazor stratum XIII

• 1200 BC destructions in Canaan: - Megiddo stratum VIIB - Beth-Shan stratum VII - Tel Abu Hawam stratum V - Tel Zeror destr. - Aphek destr. - Tell Deir Alla destr. - Gezer stratum XV - Timnah (T. Batash) stratum VI - Lachish town stratum VII - Lachish F-Temple Phase III - Tell Beit Mirsim stratum C - Tel Sera‘ stratum X - Ashdod stratum XIV

DESTRUCTIONS ca.1200 BC LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC

Egypt & Egyptian empire’s collapse: • Some cities display a gap in settlement following their destruction: E.g., Hazor and Aphek • Other cities experience an entirely new form of culture and occupation after their destruction ca.1200 BC. • Further settlements are rebuilt in the subsequent Iron 1A period (1200-1150) along a similar pattern by Canaanites: - Megiddo - Beth-Shan - Lachish - Tel Sera‘ - Ashdod - Tell Farah South • Such cities lasted another 50 years until another series of destructions CANAANITE ended Egypt’s control of Palestine. RENEWAL LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC Egypt & Egyptian empire’s collapse: • W.F. Albright & G.E. Wright divided the Late Bronze Age from Iron Age at ca.1200 BC. • The last phase of Egyptian control in early Dynasty 20 and brief revival of some Canaanite settlements is called Iron 1A: ca.1200–1150 BC. • Some scholars argue for placing the end of LB Age at 1150 BC (→ LB 2C?) • Most people retain the LB 2B-Iron 1A division to minimize confusion. • In addition, after ca.1200 BC: - International trade virtually “ceases” - Major Canaanite cities disappear - Other Canaanite cities → turmoil The initial arrival of the Peleset - Some Iron Age features appear: → Biblical “Philistines” E.g.,Initial Sea Peoples settlement, Israelites gathering in hill country→ Partly modern “Palestinians” 8. The later Iron Age I (1B) Ca. 1150 - 1000 BCE

Post “Late Bronze Age” (mostly transitional) in the Near East … LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC Advent of Dynasty 21: 1069+ BC • This East Mediterranean turmoil puts a virtual end, albeit temporarily, to regular East-West commerce. • Mycenaean and Cypriot pottery stops being imported into the Levant-Egypt. • Major Levantine cities are destroyed, such as Ugarit & Alalakh. • Many destroyed cities in Cyprus are occupied by some Aegean raiders/settlers. • Egypt & part of its northern empire, withstood the Sea People & refugee raids and migrations, and managed to maintain the empire in Palestine for almost 50 years: 1200-1150 BC. (early Dynasty 20: Ramesses III-VI). • After mid-Dynasty 20 (Ramesses VI), Egypt’s northern empire collapses and Egypt becomes progressively weaker. Near East ca. 1000-1000 BCE: Aftermath: • During the Iron Age IA-IB aftermath Phrygians following the 1250–1200 BCE coastal and inland conflicts, migrations, flight, and settlement, new peoples integrate variously into the indigenous & diverse populations of the East Mediterranean: a. The Phrygians, kingdom of Urartu, and others emerge in Anatolia. b. Some Aegeans appear in Cyprus; c. The neo-/Syro-Hittites forge new states in northern Syria d. Aramaeans shift into SE Syria (forming Aram-Damascus); e. the Israelites (and others) coalesce in the hill country (Gilboa 2014) Near East ca. 1000-1000 BCE: Aftermath: • f. Egypt (Ramesses III–VI) controls an increasingly reduced area of Canaan during Iron Age IA. • g. The Peleset (Philistines) merge with Canaanites in the southern coastal plain of Philistia • h. Other Sea Peoples may have settled elsewhere in the Levant (e.g., Phoenicia), including the Tjeker at Dor, Sherden at Akko, and perhaps others inland (e.g., Sherden? at Tell es-Saidiyeh in the Jordan Valley) • i. Leading up to and during the Iron Age, tribal societies establish chiefdoms and subsequent kingdoms in Ammon, Moab, and Edom in Transjordan and the Negev. 9. The later Iron Age I (1B) Ca. 1150 - 1000 BCE

The legacy of the Canaanites, Peleset and elusive “Sea Peoples” in the Near East … Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC Legacy: • Following ca. 1200/1177 BCE, Ramesses III–VI retained political control of Canaan in Iron Age IA; • The specific relationship with the Sea People captives, migrants, other peoples remains less clear: • It is uncertain whether captured warriors (e.g., Peleset) served as auxiliaries in Egyptian garrisons within Canaan versus mainly in Egypt: a. Some Iron Age IA, ceramic anthropoid coffins bearing striped headdresses appear in Egyptian garrison cemeteries at Deir el-Balah (which also has LB Age IIB coffins), Tell Farah South, Beth Shan, and perhaps elsewhere (e.g., a body ? fragment occurs at Lachish). Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC Legacy: • These examples have often been equated with the flaring helmets sported by some Sea People mercenaries (i.e., Peleset; Tjeker; Denyen). • However, this equation remains speculative and contested (Killebrew 2005, 65–67, 218; Dothan 2008, 94–95). • Of note, a pottery deposit associated with the Deir el-Balah residence/fort https://members.bib-arch.org/biblical-archaeology-review/16/1/2 may reflect a Philistine practice. • Regardless of individual areas and circumstances, Iron Age I displays a major shift in the political and cultural landscape of the Levant (and beyond). Personal communication John S. Holladay,Ekron Jr; seeDeir Dothan el-Balah & Nahmias-Lotan 2010, 111–13. Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC Legacy: • These examples have often been equated with the flaring helmets sported by some Sea People mercenaries (i.e., Peleset; Tjeker; Denyen). • However, this equation remains speculative and contested (Killebrew 2005, 65–67, 218; Dothan 2008, 94–95). • Of note, a pottery deposit associated with the Deir el-Balah residence/fort may reflect a Philistine practice. • Regardless of individual areas and circumstances, Iron Age I displays a major shift in the political and cultural landscape of the Levant (and beyond). Personal communication John S. Holladay, Jr; see Dothan & Nahmias-Lotan 2010, 111–13. Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC Legacy: • Iron Age I also witnesses the influx and blending of (a). the Philistines, (b). Tjeker, (c). Sherden, (d). Israelites, and (e). other peoples … with the former Canaanites and other ethnic groups (e/g/. ‘Apiru; Shasu; Seir Bedu). • This also includes the consolidation of (a). powerful Phoenician city-states to the north (e.g., Byblos; Tyre; Sidon), and (b) new polities to the east (Aram -Damascus; Ammon; Moab; Edom). Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC Legacy: • Iron Age I also witnesses the influx and blending of (a). the Philistines, (b). Tjeker, (c). Sherden, (d). Israelites, and (e). other peoples … with the former Canaanites and other ethnic groups (e/g/. ‘Apiru; Shasu; Seir Bedu).

• This also includes the consolidation of (a). powerful Phoenician city-states to the north (e.g., Byblos; Tyre; Sidon), and (b) new polities to the east (Aram -Damascus; Ammon; Moab; Edom). Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC The Sea Peoples & Canaanites in the Levant: • The archaeological & historical records suggest that the Peleset and other Sea Peoples (Tjeker; Sherden) settled amongst the Canaanite population, probably via Cyprus (which yields much locally made Mycenaean IIIC1b pottery) (see Killebrew and Lehmann 2013). • The Peleset initially concentrated at and around the towns of Ashkelon, Gaza, and Ashdod in the Plain of Philistia during Iron Age IA: Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC The Sea Peoples & Canaanites in the Levant: • An emerging hybrid Peleset, Tjeker, Sherden, and Canaanite population … (a) replace some LB IIB Canaanite towns (e.g., Ashdod), (b) abandon other sites (e.g., Ugarit; a hiatus occurs at Lachish in Iron IB), (c) establish new towns (Iron IB Tell Qasile), and (d) continue occupying other towns (e.g., Tell el-Farah South; Gezer). Ashdod• The Onomastacon of Amenemope confirms the presence of the Sherden, Tjeker, and Peleset in Canaan, plus the importance of Ashkelon (150 acres), Ashdod (20 acres), and Gaza (mostly unexcavated). Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC The Sea Peoples & Canaanites in the Levant: • An emerging hybrid Peleset, Tjeker, Sherden, and Canaanite population … (a) replace some LB IIB Canaanite towns (e.g., Ashdod), (b) abandon other sites (e.g., Ugarit; a hiatus occurs at Lachish in Iron IB), (c) establish new towns (Iron IB Tell Qasile), and (d) continue occupying other towns (e.g., Tell el-Farah South; Gezer). • The Onomastacon of Amenemope confirms the presence of the Sherden, Tjeker, and Peleset in Canaan, plus the importance of Ashkelon (150 acres), Ashdod (20 acres), and Gaza (mostly unexcavated). Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC The Sea Peoples & Canaanites in the Levant: • These settlements are associated with the biblical Philistines, implying that these migrants had become quite settled by 1150–1100 BCE (Mazar 1990; Lipinski 2006, 49–57). • The Journey of Wenamon (ca. 1069 BCE), mentions an Egyptian emissary stopping at a Tjeker port-town of Dor (Plain of Sharon); • Wenamon also relates that the Tjeker operated many ships along the Levantine coast, while the prince of Byblos is called Tjeker-baal. • The Sherden also may have occupied the northern valleys and plains of Canaan, including Tell es-Saidiyeh (Tubb 2000). Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC The Sea Peoples & Canaanites in the Levant: • These settlements are associated with the biblical Philistines, implying that these migrants had become quite settled by 1150–1100 BCE (Mazar 1990; Lipinski 2006, 49–57). • The Journey of Wenamon (ca. 1069 BCE), mentions an Egyptian emissary stopping at a Tjeker port-town of Dor (Plain of Sharon); • Wenamon also relates that the Tjeker operated many ships along the Levantine coast, while the prince of Byblos is called Tjeker-baal. • The Sherden also may have occupied the northern valleys and plains of Canaan, including Tell es-Saidiyeh (Tubb 2000). Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC Helladic/Mycenaean IIIC pottery The Sea Peoples & Canaanites in the Levant: • Regarding Aegean links, northern Palestine and coastal Lebanon and Syria have produced locally made Mycenaean IIIC1b pottery (e.g., Acre; Beth Shan), albeit in much smaller amounts than Philistia. (see Mee 2008, 378, 382). Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC The Philistines (& Canaanites): • The Pelest, who are best equated with the biblical Philistines, may have roots from Crete (biblical Kaphtor [Amos 9:7; Jeremiah 47:4]), but also display strong ties with the Ionian coast (Western Anatolia) and the Aegean in general: E.g., The Plain of Philistia yields Mycenaean IIIC.1b pottery (a). Mycenaean pottery forms (Late from Rhodes and Cyprus Helladic IIIC bell-shaped bowls and kraters; stirrup jars; strainer jugs; pyxides), (b). Mycenaean-style art and motifs (e.g., birds), (c). figurines (e.g., seated & standing human figures), (d). seals with glyptic art (resembling Cypro-Minoan script), (e). architecture (megera; bench-shrines) & (f) other components (Dothan 1982; Mazar 1990) Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC replica The Philistines (& Canaanites): • The Pelest, who are best equated with the biblical Philistines, may have roots from Crete (biblical Kaphtor [Amos 9:7; Jeremiah 47:4]), but also display strong ties with the Ionian coast (Western Anatolia) and the Aegean in general: E.g., The Plain of Philistia yields (a). Mycenaean pottery forms (Late Helladic IIIC bell-shaped bowls and kraters; stirrup jars; strainer jugs; pyxides), (b). Mycenaean-style art and motifs (e.g., birds), (c). figurines (e.g., seated & standing human figures), (d). seals with glyptic art (resembling Cypro-Minoan script), (e). architecture (megera; bench-shrines) & (f) other components (Dothan 1982; Mazar 1990) Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC The Philistines (& Canaanites): • Regarding the Pelest, … (g). A flaring headdress similar to the style associated with the Pelest is found on the Phaistos Disk from Late Bronze Age Crete (Gardiner 1947, 203* kftyw). (h). The Bible has some Philistine names and designations with apparent, albeit contested, links to Luwian languages from Western Anatolia (Singer 1988, 243). (i). Anatolian parallels to the Sherden(?) and Tjeker(?) may be reflected by the introduction of many double pithos burials at Tell es -Saidiyeh (Jordan Valley) and some double pithos and cremation burials at Azor (near Tell Qasile). Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC Luwian script The Philistines (& Canaanites): • Regarding the Pelest, … (g). A flaring headdress similar to the style associated with the Pelest is found on the Phaistos Disk from Late Bronze Age Crete (Gardiner 1947, 203* kftyw). (h). The Bible has some Philistine names and designations with apparent, albeit contested, links to Luwian languages from Western Anatolia (Singer 1988, 243). (i). Anatolian parallels to the Sherden(?) and Tjeker(?) may be reflected by the introduction of many double pithos burials at Tell es -Saidiyeh (Jordan Valley) and some double pithos and cremation burials at Azor (near Tell Qasile). Azor: double pithos burial Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC The Philistines (& Canaanites): • During Iron Age IB, after Egypt lost control of Canaan, the characteristic Philistine material culture expands further north and inland, including the settlements of Ekron (Tel Miqne) and Gath (Tel Safi), which biblical texts (Judges 16) ascribe to a Philistine confederacy of five towns: pentapolis (Younker 2003, 372; Yasur-Landau 2010, 282–97). • This autonomy enabled the Philistines to fortify their growing cities (Ashdod increased to 100 acres). • Some elite housing includes Myc-style buildings with a central hearth and four pillars (Miqne-Ekron); • A few homes adopted a “four-room house” plan, which becomes typical for mainly Iron Age Israel and Judah (Holladay 1997, 337). Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC The Philistines (& Canaanites): • During Iron Age IB, after Egypt lost control of Canaan, the characteristic Philistine material culture expands further north and inland, including the settlements of Ekron (Tel Miqne) and Gath (Tel Safi), which biblical texts (Judges 16) ascribe to a Philistine confederacy of five towns: pentapolis (Younker 2003, 372; Yasur-Landau 2010, 282–97). • This autonomy enabled the Philistines to fortify their growing cities (Ashdod increased to 100 acres). • Some elite housing includes Myc-style buildings with a central hearth and four pillars (Miqne-Ekron); • A few homes adopted a “four-room house” plan, which becomes typical for mainly Iron Age Israel and Judah (Holladay 1997, 337). Ashdod LB Age casemate Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC The Philistines (& Canaanites): • Philistine temples, exemplified at Tel Qasile and partly exposed at Tel Safi (Gath), exhibit Aegean-style roots (e.g., Kition; Phylakopi): (a). Rectilinear structural plans, (b). two central pillars, (c). interior benches for votive offerings, (d). an altar, (e). treasury, (f). outer courtyard, and (g). other features. • They contained ritual equipment such as Aegean-derived Ashdoda female figurines, mourning female figurines (hands-to-head), pottery stands, rhyta, and kernoi, plus triton shells (possibly a horn for ritual calls), alabaster vessels, jewelry, seals, and other votives (Mazar 1980; 1985; 1990). Iron Age 1: ca. 1200 – 1000 BC Qasile Strata XII-X temple summary: Has similarities in plan to 1300-1100 BC temples: a. Earlier LB Age Lachish Fosse Temple which may be an Aegean-style shrine. Kition b. Mycenaean temples in the Aegean c. Temple at Phylakopi on Melos island. Kition temple on Cyprus. • There may have been influences between temple architecture in the Aegean, Cyprus and the Levant. • However, the temple at Tel Qasile appears to have more parallels with the Aegean and Cyprus than with Canaan, thereby reflecting the overall Philistine’s Mycenaean and Cypriot (in-transit) heritage. Cyprus: LB Age Kition, shrine Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC The Philistines (& Canaanites): • Philistine temples, … • Qasile and partly exposed at Tel Safi (Gath), exhibit Aegean-style roots (e.g., Kition; Phylakopi): (a). Rectilinear structural plans, (b). two central pillars, (c). interior benches for votive offerings, (d). an altar, (e). treasury, (f). outer courtyard, and (g). other features. • They contained ritual equipment such as Aegean-derived Ashdoda female figurines, mourning female figurines (hands-to-head), pottery stands, rhyta, and kernoi, plus triton shells (possibly a horn for ritual calls), alabaster vessels, jewelry, seals, and other votives (Mazar 1980; 1985; 1990). Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC Canaanite The Philistines (& Canaanites): • One popular misperception concerning the Philistines introducing and having a monopoly on iron production and superior weaponry (see I Samuel 13:19–22) is misplaced: • I.e., Iron items appear earlier in the Egyptian Levant and are manufactured and dispersed widely during the Iron Age, including in Israelite territory (see Dever 1990, 80). • In addition to the continuation and Philistine dominance of typical Canaanite pottery forms in Iron Age IB Philistia, Philistine pottery shifts to a hybrid, Bichrome ware with a more stylized bird motif, painted spirals, frames, rarely fish, and sometimes an Egyptian-style lotus blossom. Sea Peoples in Near East 1000-1000 BC The Philistines (& Canaanites): • Although other Aegean-derived items continue in Iron IB, and likewise merge with Canaanite material culture (e.g., hybrid “Orpheus” jug from Megiddo Stratum VIA), Bichrome pottery characterizes Philistine culture: I.e., It is also exported to settlements along the borders of Philistia and Philistine bichrome reaches the foothills of the Israelite hill country. • The Philistine heartland contains multiple burial types, from the common indigenous simple pit-graves and rectilinear cist graves to foreign- derived pithos burials (Azor; Tell Zeror), some Aegean(?)-derived rock- cut bench tombs (Tell el-Farah South), and sporadic cremation burials (e.g., Azor) (Dothan 1993, 128, 129; Kochavi 1993, 1525; Yisraeli 1993, 442–43). 10. SUMMARY OF MAIN POINTS: LB Age: ca. 1550 – 1200 BC

Theories behind the Sea Peoples: • “Dorian” invasion from the north into Greece (Mycenae) → now discounted. Other suggestions for Mycenaean collapse (in complex, multi-causal …): - Drought (Aegean, Anatolia, Egypt), - Famine (Aegean, Anatolia, Egypt), - Population movements (some places), - Economic decline (some places), - Systemic collapse of Mycenaean palace system (Renfrew: systems collapse) - Earthquake destruction (some places), - Raids (textual attestations) Hittite empire collapses: suffered from - Drought & famine, - Strife over royal succession, - External pressures (raids; revolts), - Invasion from northern tribes (Kaska). - Etc. Sea Peoples & collapse of the Bronze Age. Date: 1200-1150 BC (Iron Age 1A). 1. Egypt: Ramesses III records at Medinet Habu that in his year 8 (ca.1200 BC) the Sea Peoples had destroyed Arzawa (S. Turkey), the Hittites (Turkey), Alashiya (Cyprus), Qode (Syria), Carchemish (Syria), invaded Egypt’s northern empire with refugees (from Amurru) & attacked delta river mouths; 2. Composition: The Sea Peoples included the Shekelesh (S. Italy?), Peleset (Anatolia/Aegean/Crete), the Tjekker (NW Turkey), Weshwesh (W. Anatolia), Teresh (Lydia: W. Anatolia), Denyen (SE Turkey) & Shardana (N. Syria); The land-based forces included Libyan tribes & Levantine refugees; Sea Peoples & collapse of the Bronze Age. 3. Impetus: The impetus for the Sea Peoples’ movements is complex and spans 50 years, including drought, famine, earthquakes, displaced populations, raids, economic decline, and Mycenaean palace system collapse in southeast Europe, with a ripple effect into the East Mediterranean: refugees, etc. (Note: “Dorian” invasions = totally discounted) 4. Hittite collapse: The additional pressures of the Sea Peoples to the Hittite empire compounded their existing problems with drought, famine, internal strife over royal succession, north raids by the Kaska tribes, and various revolts and raids within and along the borders of the empire: e.g., Assyria. Sea Peoples & collapse of the Bronze Age. 5. Syrian collapse: Correspondence between Ugarit (Lebanon) and Alashiya (Cyprus) reveals diverse coastal raids upon these Hittite vassals by sea raiders, who destroyed many coastal settlements and city states whose defences were weakened whilst many troops were off in Hatti aiding the Hittites. 6. Canaan: Ramesses III (Egypt) apparently defeated the land attack somewhere in Canaan, but took many captives and settled some in Egyptian forts as auxiliary forces/garrisons. Later texts and the archaeological record reveals the Philistines, Tjekker and others settled along the coast of the Levant (see the Journey of Wenamon; the Onomasticon of Amenemope). Sea Peoples & collapse of the Bronze Age. 7. Egypt: Ramesses III claims victory over a Sea Peoples’ fleet that attempted to enter the delta; he placed Egypt’s fleet at several delta river mouths, alongside land-based troops, and slaughtered many Sea Peoples within their ships. The Sea Peoples’ ships display bird-headed prows and sterns. 8. Aftermath: The Sea Peoples attacked and destroyed many sites and settle along the Levantine coast: Peleset in Southwest Canaan (Plain of Philistia), Tjekker in northern Palestine (e.g., Byblos), and the Sherden possibly in the north (e.g., Jonathan Tubb: double pithos burials at Tell es-Saidiyeh). Sea Peoples & collapse of the Bronze Age. 8. Aftermath: The entire East Mediterranean was left altered substantially in the wake of the Sea Peoples’ migrations & raids: a. the Hittite empire and other kingdoms and city states fell; b. New peoples emerged and combined with the Canaanite populations; c. Egypt survived, but faced increasing Libyan attacks and incursions under Ramesses III-XI, later forging Libyan-derived chiefdoms/polities in the 3IP delta (Iron IB). Mesopotamia and the Near East: ca. 1,550 – 1,150 BCE. 11. Selected Bibliography: Bibliography:

Bachhuber, Christoph 2013 “Sea Peoples.” Pages 6098–99 in The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Volume 11: Ro-Te. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine, and Sabine R. Huebner. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Bachhuber, C. and Roberts, R. G., (eds.). 2009 Forces of Transformation: The End of the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean. Banea Monograph Book 1. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Barwik, Miroslaw 2011 The Twilight of Ramesside Egypt: Studies on the History of Egypt ... Warsaw: Agade. Beckman, G. M., Bryce, T. R., and Cline, E. H. 2011 The Ahhiyawa Texts. Society of Biblical Literature, Writings from the Ancient World volume 28. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. Ben-Shlomo, David 2014 “Philistia during the Iron Age II Period.” Pages 717–42 (Chapter 47) in The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant c. 8000 – 332 BCE. Edited by Margreet L. Steiner and Ann E. Killebrew. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bienkowski, Piotr (ed.) 1992 Early Edom and Moab: The Beginnings of the Iron Age in Southern Jordan. Sheffield Archaeological Monographs 7. Oxford: The Alden Press. Bietak, Manfred 2007 “Egypt and the Levant.” Pages 417–48 (Chapter 29) in The Egyptian World. Edited by Toby A. Wilkinson. The Routledge Worlds. Abingdon: Routledge. Broodbank, Cyprian 2013 The Making of the Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean from the Beginning to the Emergence of the Classical World. New York: Oxford University Press. Bryan, Betsy M. 1991 The Reign of Thutmose IV. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press. Bryce, Trevor 2014 Ancient Syria: A Three Thousand Year History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bryce, Trevor 2005 The Kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford: Clarendon Press (second edition). Caminos, Ricardo A. 1954 Late-Egyptian Miscellanies. Brown Egyptological Studies 1. London: Oxford University Press. Cline, Eric H. 2014 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed. Turning Points in Ancient History. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Cline, Eric H. and O'Connor, David (eds.) 2006 Thutmose III: A New Biography. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Bibliography:

Cohen, Raymond and Westbrook, Raymond (ed.) 2000 Amarna Diplomacy: The Beginnings of International Relations. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press. D'Amato, Raffaele and Salimbeti, Andrea 2015 Sea Peoples of the Mediterranean c. 1400 BC – 1000 BC. Osprey: Elite Series 204. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. Deger-Jalkotzy, Sigrid 2008 “Decline, destruction, aftermath.” Pages 387–416 (chapter 15) in The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Edited by Cynthia W. Shelmerdine (ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Der Manuelian, Peter 1987 Studies in the Reign of Amenophis II. Hildeshimer Agyptologische Beitrage. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg Verlag. Dever, William G. 2003 Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From? Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. Dever, William G. 1990 Recent Archaeological Discoveries and Biblical Research. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Dodson, Aidan 2014 Amarna Sunrise: Egypt from Golden Age to Age of Heresy. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. Dodson, Aidan 2013 “Chronology, Pharaonic Egypt.” Pages 1485–87 in The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Volume 3: Be-Co. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine, and Sabine R. Huebner. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Dodson, Aidan 2012 Afterglow of Empire: Egypt from the Fall of the New Kingdom to the Saite Renaissance. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. Dodson, Aidan 2010 Poisoned Legacy: The Fall of the Nineteenth Egyptian Dynasty. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. Dodson, Aidan 2009 Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-Reformation. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. Dothan, Moshe 1993 “Azor.” Pages 125–29 in The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, Volume 1. Edited by Ephraim Stern, Ayelet Lewinson-Gilboa, and Joseph Aviram. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society. Dothan, Trude and Nahmias-Lotan, Tamar 2010 “A lamp and bowl Deposit.” Pages 111–13 (Chapter 5) in Deir el-Balah: Excavations in 1977–1982 in the Cemetery and Settlement, Volume 2: The Finds. Edited by Trude Dothan and Baruch Brandl. QEDEM Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology 50. Jerusalem: Ahva Press. Bibliography:

Dothan, Trude 2008 Deir el-Balah: Uncovering an Egyptian Outpost in Canaan from the Time of the Exodus. Jerusalem: The Israel Museum. Dothan, Trude and Dothan, M. 1992 People of the Sea: The Search for the Philistines. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. Dothan, Trude 1982 The Philistines and Their Material Culture. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society. Drews, R. 1993 The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe Ca.1200 B.C. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Faust, Avraham 2006 Israel's Ethnogenesis: Settlement, Interaction, Expansion and Resistance. Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology. London: Equinox Publishing Ltd. Frerichs, Ernest S. and Lesko, Leonard H. (eds) 1997 Exodus: The Egyptian Evidence. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. Gardiner, Alan H. 1947 Ancient Egyptian Onomastica Text, volumes I–II. Oxford: Oxford University Press (1968 reprint). Gates, Marie-Henriette 2011 “Southern and Southeastern Anatolia in the Late Bronze Age.” Pages 393–412 (chapter 17) in The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia. Edited by Sharon R. Steadman and Gregory McMahon. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Gilboa, Ayelet 2014 “The Southern Levant (Cisjordan) during the Iron Age I Period.” Pages 624–59 (Chapter 41) in The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant c. 8000 – 332 BCE. Edited by Margreet L. Steiner and Ann E. Killebrew. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Goelet, Ogden 2016 “Tomb Robberies in the Valley of the Kings.” Pages 448–66 in The Oxford Handbook of the Valley of the Kings. Edited by Richard H. Wilkinson and Kent R. Weeks. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Haider, Peter W., Weinstein, James M., Cline, Eric H., and O’Connor, David 2012 “Nomads of Sea and Desert: An integrated Approach to Ramesses III’s Foreign Policy.” Pages 151–208 in Ramesses III: The Life and Times of Egypt's Last Hero. Edited by Eric H. Cline and David O'Connor. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. Hasel, Michael G. 1998 Dominance and Resistance: Egyptian Military Activity in the Southern Levant, 1300–1185 BC. Probleme der Agyptologie 11. Leiden: Brill. Herr, Larry and Najjar, Mohammed. 2008 “The Iron Age.” Pages 311–34 in Jordan: An Archaeological Reader. Edited by Adams, Russell. London: Equinox. Bibliography: Higginbotham, Carolyn R. 2000 Egyptianization and Elite Emulation in Ramesside Palestine: Governance and Accommodation on the Imperial Periphery. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 2. Leiden: Brill. Hitchcock, Louise A. and Maier, A. M. 2016 “A pirate’s life for me: The maritime culture of the Sea Peoples,” Palestine Exploration Quarterly 148.4: xxx-xxx. Hoffmeier, James K. (ed.) 2014 Excavations in North Sinai. Tell el-Borg I: The "Dwelling of the Lion" on the Ways of Horus. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. Hoffmeier, James K. 2005 Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hoffmeier, J. K. 1997 Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hoffner, Harry A. 2009 Letters from the Hittite Kingdom. Writings from the Ancient World 15. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. Holladay, J. S. 1997 “Four-Room House.” Pages 337–42 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, Volume 2. Edited by Eric M. Meyers. New York: Oxford University Press. Karageorghis, Vassos 1982 Cyprus from the Stone Age to the Romans. London: Thames and Hudson. Killebrew, Ann E. and Lehmann, Gunnar (eds.) 2013 The Philistines and Other "Sea Peoples" in Text and Archaeology. Society of Biblical Literature, Archaeology and Biblical Studies no.15. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. Killebrew, Ann E. 2005 Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, and early Israel 1300–1100 B.C.E. Society of Biblical Literature, Archaeology and Biblical Studies no.9. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. Kitchen, Kenneth A. 2008 Ramesside Inscriptions: Translated and Annotated Translations, Volume V: Setnakht, Ramesses III, and Contemporaries. London: Blackwell Publishing. Kitchen, Kenneth A. 2003 Ramesside Inscriptions: Translated and Annotated Translations, Volume IV: Merenptah and the Late Nineteenth Dynasty. London: Blackwell Publishing. Kitchen, Kenneth A. 2000 Ramesside Inscriptions: Translated and Annotated Translations, Volume III: Ramesses II, His Contemporaries. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Kitchen, Kenneth A. 1996 Ramesside Inscriptions: Translated and Annotated Translations, Volume II: Ramesses II, Royal Inscriptions. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Bibliography:

Kitchen, Kenneth A. 1995 The Third Intermediate Period (1100–650 B.C.) (reprinted with a new preface and the 1986 supplement). Warminster: Aris and Phillips Ltd. Kitchen, Kenneth A. 1982 Pharaoh Triumphant, the Life and Times of Ramesses II. Monumenta Hannah Sheen Dedicata II. Mississauga: Benben Books. Knapp, A. Bernard. 2013 The Archaeology of Cyprus from Earliest Prehistory through the Bronze Age. Cambridge World Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kochavi, Moshe 1993 “Zeror, Tel.” Pages 1524–26 in The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, Volume 4. Edited by Ephraim Stern, Ayelet Lewinson-Gilboa, and Joseph Aviram. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society. Kotsonas, Antonis 2013 “Chronology, Bronze and Iron Age.” Pages 1485 in The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Volume 3: Be-Co. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine, and Sabine R. Huebner. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Leahy, Anthony 2001 “Sea Peoples.” Pages 257–60 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, vol. 3: P-Z. Edited by Donald B. Redford. New York: Oxford University Press. Levy, T. E., Najjar, M., and Ben-Yosef, E. (eds.) 2014 New Insights to the Iron Age Archaeology of Edom, Southern Jordan, Volumes 1–2. UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, Monumenta Archaeologica 35. Los Angeles: The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. Levy, T. E., Schneider, T., and Propp, W. H. C. (eds.) 2015 Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective: Text, Archaeology, Culture, and Geoscience. Quantitative Methods in the Humanities and Social Sciences. New York: Springer International Publishing. Lipinski, Edward 2006 On the Skirts of Canaan in the Iron Age. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 153. Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters. Mazar, Amihai 1990 Archaeology of the Land of the Bible 10,000–586 B.C.E. New York: Doubleday. Mazar, Amihai 1985 Excavations at Tell Qasile. Part Two: The Philistine Sanctuary: Various Finds, The Pottery, Conclusions, Appendixes. QEDEM Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology 20. Jerusalem: Ahva Press. Mazar, Amihai 1980 Excavations at Tell Qasile. Part One: The Philistine Sanctuary: Architecture and Cult Objects. QEDEM Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology 12. Jerusalem: Ahva Press. Bibliography:

Morenz, Ludwig D. and Popko, Lutz 2010 “The Second Intermediate Period and the New Kingdom.” Pages 101–19 (Chapter 6) in A Companion to Ancient Egypt, volumes 1–2. Edited by Alan B. Lloyd. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. Maeir, Aren M. 2013a “Israel and Judah.” Pages 3523–27 in The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Volume 7: Io-Li. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine, and Sabine R. Huebner. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Maeir, Aren M. 2013b “Philistia Transforming: Fresh Evidence from Tell eṣ-Ṣafi/Gath on the Transformational Trajectory of the Philistine Culture.” Pages 191–242 (Chapter 9) in The Philistines and Other "Sea Peoples" in Text and Archaeology. Edited by Ann E. Killebrew and Gunnar Lehmann. Society of Biblical Literature, Archaeology and Biblical Studies no.15. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. Mee, Christopher 2008 “Mycenaean Greece, the Aegean, and Beyond.” Pages 362–86 (chapter 14) in The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age. Edited by Cynthia W. Shelmerdine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Miller, J. Maxwell and Hayes, John H. 2006 A History of Ancient Israel and Judah (2nd edition). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. Moran, William L. 1992 The Amarna Letters. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press. Morris, Ellen Fowles 2005 The Architecture of Imperialism: Military Bases and the Evolution of Foreign Policy in Egypt's New Kingdom. Probleme der Agyptologie 22. Leiden: E. J. Brill. Mumford, Gregory 2014 “Egypt and the Levant.” Pages 69–89 (Chapter 5) in The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant c. 8000–332 BCE. Edited by Margreet L. Steiner and Ann E. Killebrew. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mumford, Gregory 2007 “Egypto-Levantine relations during the Iron Age to Early Persian periods (Dynasties Late 20 to 26).” Pages 225–88 in Egyptian Stories: A British Egyptological Tribute to Alan B. Lloyd on the Occasion of His Retirement. Edited by Thomas Schneider and Kasia M. Szpakowska. Münster: Ugarit. Mumford, Gregory 2001a “Syria-Palestine.” Pages 335–43 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, vol. 3: P-Z. Edited by Donald B. Redford. New York: Oxford University Press. Mumford, Gregory 2001b “Mediterranean Area.” Pages 358–67 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, vol. 2: G-O. Edited by Donald B. Redford. New York: Oxford University Press. Bibliography:

Mumford, Gregory 1998 International Relations Between Egypt, Sinai, and Syria-Palestine during the Late Bronze Age to Early Persian Period (Dynasties 18–26: c. 1550–525 B.C.). Toronto: PhD dissertation at the University of Toronto. On-line access: http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape10/PQDD_0020/NQ45825.pdf Murnane, William J. 1980 United With Eternity: A Concise Guide to the Monuments of Medinet Habu. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press. O’Connor, David 2000 “The Sea Peoples and the Egyptian Sources.” Pages 85–101 (chapter 5) in The Sea Peoples and Their World: A Reassessment. Edited by Eliezer D. Oren. University Museum Monograph 108. Philadelphia: University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. O'Connor, David and Cline, Eric H. 1998 Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Oren, Eliezer D. (ed.) 2000 The Sea Peoples and Their World: A Reassessment. University Museum Monograph 108. Philadelphia: University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. Peden, Alexander J. 2001 The Graffiti of Pharaonic Egypt: Scope and Roles of Informal Writings (c.3100–332 BC). Probleme der Agyptologie 17. Leiden: E. J. Brill. Redford, Donald B. 2006 A History of Ancient Egypt: Egyptian Civilization in Context. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co. Redford, Donald B. 2003 The Wars in Syria and Palestine of Thutmose III. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 16. Leiden: E. J. Brill. Redford, Susan 2002 The Harem Conspiracy: The Murder of Ramesses III. Dekalb: Northern Illinois University Press. Renfrew, Colin and Bahn, Paul 2016 Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice (seventh edition). London: Thames and Hudson. Sader, Hélène 2014 “The Northern Levant during the Iron Age I Period.” Pages 607–23 (Chapter 40) in The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant c. 8000 – 332 BCE. Edited by Margreet L. Steiner and Ann E. Killebrew. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sagonia, Antonio and Zimansky, Paul 2009 Ancient Turkey. Routledge World Archaeology. London: Routledge. Sandars, N. K. 1985 The Sea Peoples: Warriors of the Ancient Mediterranean. London: Thames and Hudson. Bibliography: Seeher, Jürgen 2011 “The Plateau: The Hittites.” Pages 376–92 (chapter 16) in The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia. Edited by Sharon R. Steadman and Gregory McMahon. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Simpson, William Kelly (ed.). 2003 The Literature of Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Stories, Instructions, Stelae, Autobiographies, and Poetry (Third edition). New Haven: Yale University Press. Singer, Itamar 1988 “The Origin of the Sea Peoples and Their Settlement on the Coast of Canaan.” Pages 239–50 in Society and Economy in the Eastern Mediterranean (c. 1500–1000 BC). Edited by Michael Heltzer and Edward Lipinski. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 23. Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters. Spalinger, Anthony J. 2005 War in Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Spencer, Neal 2014 Kom Firin II: The Urban Fabric and Landscape. The British Museum Reseach Publication no.192. London: British Museum Press. Stager, Lawrence E. 1995 “The Impact of the Sea Peoples in Canaan (1185-1050 BCE).” Pages 332–48 in The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land. Edited by Thomas E. Levy. New York: Facts on File Inc. Stavi, Boaz 2015 The Reign of Tudhaliya II and Šuppiluliuma I: The Contribution of the Hittite Documentation to a Reconstruction of the Amarna Age. Texte der Hethiter, Philologische und Historische Studien zur Altanatolisk, Heft 31. Heidelberg: Universitatsverlag Winter GmbH Heidelberg. Steiner, Margreet L. and Killebrew, Ann E. (eds.). 2014 The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant c. 8000 – 332 BCE. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Tartaron, Thomas F. 2013 Maritime Networks in the Mycenaean World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tatton-Brown, Veronica 1988 Ancient Cyprus. British Museum. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Tubb, Jonathan N. 2000 “Sea Peoples in the Jordan Valley.” Pages 181–96 (Chapter 9) in The Sea Peoples and Their World: A Reassessment. Edited by Eliezer D. Oren. University Museum Monograph 108. Philadelphia: University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. Van den Hout, Theo P. J. 2013 “A Short History of the Hittite Kingdom and Empire.” Pages 22–45 in Hititler: Bir Anadolu Imparatorlugu / Hittites: An Anatolian Empire (Bilingual Turkish/English edition). Edited by Meltem Dogan-Alparslan and Metin Alparslan; Translated by Mary Iṣin and Gürkan Ergin. Istanbul: Yapi Kredi Yayinlari. Bibliography:

Van Dijk, Jacobus 2000 “The Amarna Period and the Later New Kingdom.” Pages 272–329 (Chapter 10) in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Edited by Ian Shaw. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Vernus, Pascal 2003 Affairs and Scandals in Ancient Egypt. Translated by David Lorton. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Wachsmann, Shelly 2000 “To the Sea of the Philistines.” Pages 103–43 (chapter 6) in The Sea Peoples and Their World: A Reassessment. University Museum Monograph 108. Edited by Eliezer D. Oren. Philadelphia: University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. Walsh, Peter 2014 The Archaeology of Mediterranean Landscapes: Human-Environment Interaction from the Neolithic to the Roman Period. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ward, William A. and Joukowsky, Martha S. (eds) 1992 The Crisis Years: The 12th Century B.C. from beyond the Danube to the Tigris. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co. Wente, Edward 1990 Letters from Ancient Egypt. Society of Biblical Literature, Writings from the Ancient World vol. 1. Atlanta: Scholars Press. Yassur-Landau, Assaf 2010 The Philistines and Aegean Migration at the End of the Late Bronze Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Yisraeli, Yael 1993 “Far‘ah, Tell El- (South).” Pages 441–44 in The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, Volume 2. Edited by Ephraim Stern, Ayelet Lewinson-Gilboa, and Joseph Aviram. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society. Yon, Marguerite 2006 The City of Ugarit at Tell Ras Shamra. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. Younker, Randall W. 2003 “The Iron Age in the Southern Levant.” Pages 367–82 in Near Eastern Archaeology: A Reader. Edited by Suzanne Richard. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. Parts of ppt. and bibliography/references EXTRACTED FROM: Mumford, Gregory 2018 “The Collapse of the Late Bronze Age and the Sea Peoples Invasion,” pp. 260-71 in Jonathan S Greer, John W. Hilber and John H. Walton (eds.), Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social and Historical Contexts of, BSOT. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic Press (Baker Publishing Group). Published 2018 (see draft via Gregory Mumford on Academia.edu profile). https://www.academia.edu/29350914/Hitchcock_L._A._and_Maeir_A._M._2016_corrected_proofs_._A_Pirates_Life_for_Me_The_Maritime_Culture_of_the_Sea_People._ See also Palestine_Exploration_Quarterly_148_4_ Baker Academic, selected articles Selected articles relating to the early Israelites, Philistines, Sea Peoples, etc.: 6. “Archaeology of the Late Bronze Age,” by Joe Uziel 7. “Archaeology of the Iron Age I,” by Aren M. Maeir 24. “The Egyptian Sojourn and the Exodus,” by David A. Falk 25. “The Settlement Period,” by Pekka Pitkänen 33. “The Late Bronze Age Collapse & the Sea Peoples' Migrations,” by Gregory D. Mumford 54. “Trade in the Late Bronze and Iron Age Levant,” by Joshua T. Walton

Sterne Library: DS62.23 .B45 2018 2018